State funds sought to begin design of veterans cemetery

SPRINGVALE – Voters have approved the donation of 30.5 acres for a new Maine veterans cemetery. Now advocates are pinning their hopes on funding from the Legislature to complete the job.

Those who are organizing the cemetery need a $750,000 state appropriation to begin designing the burial ground.

Col. Roland Lapointe, state director of veterans affairs, says he’s confident lawmakers will see the need despite the state’s precarious financial picture.

“Some tough decisions have to be made, but we remain optimistic,” Lapointe said. “We hope the Legislature will see the wisdom of authorizing the temporary expense of working capital so we can proceed with the design and master plan.”

The 30.5 acres pledged by the town, plus the 64.5 adjoining acres previously donated by Riverside Cemetery, will compose the state’s fourth veterans cemetery. Already there are two cemeteries in Augusta and one under construction in Caribou.

The Springvale cemetery is to be financed with a $9.6 million federal grant, but the state is expected to put up the first $750,000 to finance the design and master plan. The federal government will later reimburse the state, Lapointe says.

An estimated 154,000 veterans live in Maine.

“We want to make a veterans cemetery available to all veterans,” Lapointe said. “The largest population of veterans is in southern Maine.”

Doug Ward, chairman of the Southern Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery Association, says it’ll be about three years before the new cemetery is ready.

And that assumes the state will soon provide the necessary upfront money. He hopes that lawmakers will recognize the necessity.