Specific details about the construction of the columbarium have not been finalized, but Blizzard believes that construction could start by the beginning of next year.
The columbarium will last about 10 years based on the cemetery’s utilization rate, Blizzard said.
The cost of the project will be determined after the cemetery has chosen a contractor, which is expected to be named between August and September.
The cemetery is on 118.2 acres of land located on the grounds of the Dayton VA Medical Center, 4100 W. Third St. In March, the medical center transferred 18.2 acres of land to the cemetery via a land transfer agreement with the National Cemetery, Blizzard said.
Besides veterans, those eligible for burial at the cemetery include spouses, dependent children, adult dependent children.
“We verify that eligibility case by case,” Blizzard said.
The cemetery has interred more than 47,600 people and maintained more than 44,000 gravesites.
Burial space will not be an issue until at least 2060.
“We have already planned for a part of the future,” Blizzard said.
Right now, the cemetery is in the middle of a $4 million construction project that involves the installation of 7,000 preplaced lawn crypts, which are the vaults that the caskets are placed in. Funding for the project is through the National Cemetery Administration.
Construction started in September last year and is expected to finish in September.
The crypts are expected to last another 14 years based on the cemetery’s utilization rate, Blizzard said.
Right now, the cemetery has crypts that will last for another two years.
“This was all part of our planning process to make sure we can continue to serve our veterans,” Blizzard said.
For more information about the Dayton National Cemetery, call (937) 262-2115 or visit www.cem.va.gov and click on cemeteries.
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