Veterans cemetery date set
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 21, 2014 1:50 AM
Construction of the Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery is scheduled to start Jan. 5, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 1, 2015.
The dates were announced Thursday during a pre-construction meeting in Raleigh.
At the meeting were officials from the State Construction Office, Daniels and Daniels Construction Co., the project contractor, sub-contractors, and SfL+a, the project architect.
Administrative, operational and construction matters were discussed in order to establish a work schedule, scope of work, areas of responsibility and contacts, said Eli Panee, the state Division of Veterans Affairs cemetery program manager.
Panee said the competition day was an estimation.
"Sometimes in long projects, adjustments may need to be made for bad weather, rain, electric storms, material delays, etc.," he said. "But that is standard with all projects.
"I look forward to working with Daniels and Daniels. I got a very positive and favorable impression of the staff that will be working the project. I just hope the weather for this coming year is kind to us. I have already received four inquiries about jobs at the cemetery."
Five state employees will work at the site -- two administrators and three grounds personnel.
The cemetery will occupy about 80 acres.
Wayne County commissioners recently cleared a final hurdle for the work to begin by rezoning two tracts of land on Long's Plant Farm Road east of Goldsboro where the cemetery will be built.
No one spoke during a brief public hearing on the rezoning of 163 Long's Plant Farm Road from light industry to airport. The site consists of one parcel on both sides of the road.
The light industry zone does not include cemeteries as a permitted use, while the airport zone does.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a $5,400,776 grant to the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs to build the cemetery.
It will be a state cemetery because the Wayne County area's population size does not meet the threshold for it to receive national designation.
The federal grant will help the state provide continued service for 5,332 veterans and their families in the state, according to a letter from U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald.
The grant will pay for the construction of a main entrance, an administration building, a maintenance facility, roads, an assembly area, a committal shelter, 1,874 preplaced crypts, 882 cremains (the remains of people who have been cremated) grave sites, a columbaria with 480 columbarium niches (for urns holding the remains of people who have been cremated), a memorial walkway, a memorial wall, landscaping and supporting infrastructure.
It was originally thought that the state would only be able to build five of the seven add alternates in the project plans. However, based on the grant amount, state Construction Office officials say they feel confident that the state will be able to do all seven.
They are a driveway and garage bays to the maintenance shed; double-depth concrete crypts in the burial area; a 10-foot-wide sidewalk and a memorial wall; fence and fence signs; flag assembly area and branch service flags; a set of Armed Forces medallions; and a through wall gravesite locator kiosk.