DVA begins design for $6 million expansion

Will offer more burial options for veterans, eligible dependents

MIDDLETOWN >> Members of the Department of Veterans Affairs met with the U.S. Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration and Connecticut Department of Administrative Services Division of Construction Services last week to kick off the design of two construction projects at the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.

One is an appearance project that will raise, realign and clean existing headstones, while the other is an expansion project to add preplaced crypts and realign roadways at the cemetery, according to a press release.

These projects, totaling more than $6 million, are listed on the U.S. VA National Cemetery Administration’s priority list for grant opportunities to receive eligibility for nearly 100 percent federal reimbursement.

The design is expected to be complete by July.

The expansion project adds an additional burial option for veterans and their eligible dependents and allows more veterans to choose interment at the cemetery, according to the VA.

“There are more than 8,000 Connecticut veterans interred (at Middletown’s cemetery) with more than 600 burials performed each year,” DVA Commissioner Sean M. Connolly said in the release.

“While we cannot thank our veterans enough for their service and sacrifice, every veteran deserves a dignified and honorable burial and DAS= and the state of Connecticut are here to ensure they receive the honors in death that their service in life has merited,” DAS Commissioner Melody A. Currey said in a prepared statement.

The DVA has been in operation since 1864 and is the oldest and longest operating state veterans home in the nation.

FILE PHOTO Connecticut State Veterans’ Cemetery Middletown now houses a 3,000-niche columbarium.