VA Approves Grants to Expand and Improve Nevada State Cemetery

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West Jr. announced the award of two grants to the State of Nevada for the construction of a new interment service building and expansion of burial areas at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

A grant for $472,734 will assist with construction of an interment service building, or chapel, which includes a covered porch area surrounding the building. The grant also will provide for a number of adjacent site improvements.

A second grant of $1.6 million will assist with the cost of expanding the burial areas at the busy, state-run cemetery. In fiscal year 1998, the facility provided 1,172 burials to veterans and eligible family members. The Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery is the third most active state veterans' cemetery and among the 25 busiest veterans cemeteries in the nation. The new expansion project will provide for 5,625 new gravesites, including 3,782 with pre-placed liners. Most burial sites can accommodate two or more members of the same family. This grant will also fund construction of needed roads, drainage structures, and water distribution facilities.

VA's State Cemetery Grants Program has helped to establish, expand or improve 38 state veterans' cemeteries, providing 12,760 burials in FY 1998. Six other state cemeteries are under construction.

Since the program was established in 1980, VA has awarded 97 grants to 23 states, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas for more than $63 million. In FY 1998, VA awarded 10 new grants for $6.1 million.

Specific information about the grants program is available by contacting VA's State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801. Information on VA burial benefits is available from national cemetery offices and VA regional offices. Call toll-free 1-800-827-1000, or visit the VA web sites on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov.

Veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery. VA also provides grave markers or headstones for the unmarked graves of eligible veterans, even if they are not buried in a national cemetery. VA does not reserve space in national cemeteries prior to time of need.

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