Washington, D.C. – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West Jr. today announced the award of a $4.8 million grant to the State of Maine for construction of a new state veterans’ cemetery located in Augusta, the state capital.
Called the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Mt. Vernon Road, the new facility is about one mile from the existing Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery. The older cemetery, originally established by the state in 1970, is expected to exhaust all available space for casketed remains before the end of this calendar year.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant provides 100 percent of the funding to develop approximately 10 acres of the 102-acre site. The initial development calls for 11,975 burial sites, an entrance gate, flag plaza, an administration and maintenance building, and a committal service shelter. The project also will have a fast-track section that will be available before the existing cemetery exhausts its supply of available grave sites.
VA’s State Cemetery Grants Program has helped to establish, expand or improve 41 operational state veterans cemeteries. Seven other cemeteries, including the Mount Vernon Road cemetery, are now under construction.
Since the program was established in 1980, VA has awarded 104 grants to 25 states plus Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas for more than $80 million. State veterans cemeteries provided 13,383 burials in FY 1999.
So far in FY 2000, VA has awarded six new grants for $12.6 million, a record exceeding the amount for any previous fiscal year. When increases to projects previously approved are added to the new grants in FY 2000, VA’s overall funding for new state cemeteries has reached $17.9 million, another record.
Specific information about the grants program is available by contacting VA’s State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801. Eligibility for burial in a state veterans’ cemetery varies for each state. Details may be obtained by contacting the state’s agency for veterans’ affairs.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices or by calling VA regional offices toll-free on 1-800-827-1000, or from VA web sites on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov.
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