Veterans cemetery to expand under $3.4 million grant

The Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery can expand by 17.3 acres thanks to a $3.4 million grant received Monday from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

With the funds, the 39-acre cemetery in Boulder City also can add an administration building, roads, a shelter and landscaping. Burial plots for 4,801 cremated remains also will be built.

"This is wonderful," said Chris Naylor, superintendent of the cemetery, who noted that the entrance to the cemetery appropriately will be relocated to Veterans Memorial Drive, not the current Buchanan Avenue.

Naylor said about 28,000 people are buried in the cemetery, which opened in 1990. Space remains for burials for 40 more years. On a typical day, eight people are buried in the cemetery.

About 60 percent of the veterans now choose cremation, Naylor said, which creates the need for expanded burial areas for their remains. The cemetery has 40 acres available for expansion, including the 17.3 acres that will be developed with the grant.

Funds came from the Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration.

"We are extremely grateful for the National Cemetery Administration for recognizing the caliber of our cemetery by investing in our future in this way," said Caleb Cage, executive director of the state Office of Veterans Affairs.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said the grant will allow Nevada to "continue to provide dignified service to Nevada veterans and their dependents."