New Crypt and Columbarium on St. Thomas. Photo Credit: OFFICE OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
The VI Office of Veterans Affairs has announced the approval of funding for a new VA State Cemetery to address the long-standing issue of diminishing capacity for veteran burials.
The money, from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will cover 90 percent of the total project cost, with local matching funds covering the remainder. VA Director Patrick Farrell said that because all local requirements — financial, legislative and otherwise — had to be in place before the funding was approved on the federal level, local authorities will be ready to begin work as soon as the money is received.
The project, slated for St. Croix, is expected to meet the burial needs of the veterans served by VA for approximately the next three decades. Mr. Farrell says he hopes to have the requisite funds by the beginning of the next fiscal year in October. "We are about number 12 [in the distribution queue]," Mr. Farrell said.
While the agency waits to begin that project, the VA is using already available funds to construct a second multi-vault burial crypt in the St. Thomas/St. John District, and one on St. Croix - the first in that district. Columbariums, which hold burial urns, are also being constructed. The current work being done is expected to accommodate 64 caskets and approximately 102 urns.
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