VA Awards Construction Contract for Saratoga National Cemetery
October 10, 1997
Washington, D.C. -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded an $11.6 million contract to Jersen Industries, Inc., of Waterford, N.Y., to construct the first phase of the Saratoga National Cemetery.
The 60-acre project calls for the preparation of 5,000 gravesites, including 2,000 lawn crypts, 1,500 columbaria niches and 700 garden niches for cremated remains. The plan also includes construction of an entrance area, public information center, administration and maintenance facilities, a flag/assembly area, memorial walkway, two committal service shelters, a parking area, landscaping, and roadway, utility and irrigation systems.
The 373-acre cemetery site is located less than a mile from the Saratoga National Historical Park, which preserves the site of the 1777 Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. The construction award is part of the estimated $14.7 million it will cost to open the cemetery, including $740,100 to purchase the site and about $3 million for site preparation. Completion of the first phase is scheduled for 1999.
"The veterans of this nation have earned the honor of burial in a national cemetery," said VA Secretary-Designate Hershel W. Gober. "This cemetery will help make that honor a reality for more than 250,000 veterans and their families in upstate New York and western New England. Its construction is one of VA's vital missions -- to establish and maintain dignified burial places for veterans and their families," he added.
Jerry Bowen, director of VA's National Cemetery System, said: "The veterans of this region have worked long and hard for a national cemetery. This contract award begins the work needed to create a national shrine befitting their sacrifice and dedication to our nation."
With last week's dedication and opening of the Tahoma National Cemetery near Seattle, VA's National Cemetery System now operates 115 cemeteries, of which 57 have available gravesites for new burials and 58 have limited burial services, such as for cremated remains. All are able to inter the spouse or eligible children of a family member already buried.
All veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in a national cemetery. VA also provides grave markers or headstones for the unmarked graves of eligible veterans even if they are not buried in a VA cemetery. Information on VA burial benefits is available from national cemetery offices and VA regional offices, which can be reached toll-free at 1-800-827-1000. Information also is available on VA's home page on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or the National Cemetery System's home page at http://www.va.gov/cemetery/index.htm.
