Work proceeds on new veterans cemetery
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 25, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Crews work Tuesday morning on the new state veterans cemetery being built on Long's Plant Farm Road off U.S. 70 just east of Goldsboro. Work got under way in early January and despite the spate of wet and icy weather, the project remains on schedule and is about 25 percent completed. The $4.1 million project is being built by Daniels and Daniels Construction Co. of Goldsboro and is expected to be completed by early November.
"Is this where the veterans cemetery is being built?" a man shouts from a car that has just stopped in front of Bill Royall of Daniels and Daniels Construction Co.
"Yes sir," Royall replies.
The driver and passenger look around, wave and then start back down Long's Plant Farm Road toward U.S. 70 East.
Overhead the F-15Es and KC-135 tankers from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base fly low, loud and fast. Royall, who grew up in Goldsboro hearing the B-52s and F-4s that were once stationed at the base, seldom looks up.
But while it is a sound that local residents are accustomed to, Royall is still struck by the symbolism of the aircraft flying over what will be the Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery.
"The notice to proceed on this project was Jan. 6," said Royall, vice president for design-build services for Daniels and Daniels. "So we have been on site for approximately 77 days. We are about 25 percent complete. The weather has been a factor. We have probably had 26 since we began this project that were just absolutely unworkable days.
"But we are on schedule. We are very fortunate that by managing our resources properly and really putting forth a good effort -- an effort by us, our subcontractors, and the design team (SfL+a) and the owners (the state) -- we have been able to overcome that problem."
Royall said he has been impressed by the high level of cooperation between all of the parties involved in the project and how they meet on a regular basis.
Nov. 2 is the scheduled completion date for the $4.1 million project, and barring any unforeseen circumstances it should be met without any problem, Royall said.
"This is a high visibility project, and it is very important to the VA. (The designers) have been very careful in the design. Everybody understands the importance of this project.
"Everybody has worked well together. That has really added to the fact that we are where we are because everybody understands the importance of it."
Also, Wayne County is known for its interest in all of the veterans who live here, as well as for the strong relationship between the base and county, he said.
"This is a great location," he said. "It is right off of Highway. 70. It is close. It is easily accessible, and what I have always been impressed by like what you saw earlier, we are right within the flight path of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, which is kind of a neat benefit of being here. These are military folks who will be buried out here and they are constantly being flown over by the folks from Seymour Johnson."
It will be a state cemetery because the population size of the Wayne County does not meet the threshold for it to receive national designation.
The cemetery is being built on both sides of 163 Long's Plant Farm Road.
A large maintenance building has been completed on the west side of the road.
The cemetery will be on the east side.
"The maintenance facility has some offices in it," Royall said. "It has an open bay for washing equipment, and it has a couple of bays for working on equipment."
Under the current phase of the plan nothing else is scheduled to be built next to the maintenance area, Royall said. There will a parking lot and gas tanks for the equipment.
It will be landscaped.
The driveway leading to the area will almost be opposite from the entrance to the cemetery. A row of trees will line the front of the cemetery along with an ornamental wrought-iron fence with a double swinging gate.
It will have a "very attractive look" from the road, Royall said.
The administrative building will be located near the back and south side of the cemetery property. Some of the steel for that building has been installed and is visible from the road.
"Inside the administrative building is an area for the color guards to change clothes, and gather up," he said. "There is an office in there and, of course, restrooms. You have a reception area, director's office and conference room."
There is a locator kiosk as well that people can use to locate a grave without having to walk around looking for it.
"As you continue around the next structure you would come to in the far back in this phase is a committal shelter which is basically an open-air shelter," Royall said. "It is a permanent shelter, but it is an open-air shelter.
"That is where services will be held. As you continue around the loop road, there is a memorial wall. In the middle section there will be some flagpoles."
The shelter will include seating, a lectrum and a place to set the casket.
The current phase is developing only 20 acres of the approximately 60-acre site.
"It is mostly a site work job because what we are doing is putting pre-cast concrete crypts in place," Royall said. "We are basically building dirt over the top of them. The water table is so high, but I think the design addresses all of that. We are basically putting the crypts above the existing grade level and building the grade level over the top of them.
"It is fully irrigated, and they are looking to maintain this property in a very respectful manner. It will have burial crypts. It will have an area for burying urns. It has two columbarium niches (for urns holding the remains of people who have been cremated) in the back. So there are a lot of opportunities for veterans to be interred here in different ways."
Royall said 1,872 double-height crypts will be installed, each one holding two separate caskets for a total of 3,744. The crypts are expected to be delivered by mid-April. However, a few were delivered early for quality control assurance.