The long promised Orange County veterans cemetery is set to get a new look as veterans and elected officials at every level of government are clamoring for the project to break ground at Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim.
The cemetery already has over $65 million pledged to it from a combination of county, state and federal funds, but with a price tag of $130 million it’s a much more expensive cemetery than normal, according to the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
The extra costs are due to its location in the hills off the side of the 91 and 241 freeways in Anaheim, which need to be graded for construction, and the costs of adding utilities to the site like electricity and running water.
It comes after hundreds of veterans across Orange County packed Anaheim City Council meeting chambers last month, pushing state officials to get the project off the ground.
[Read: Veterans Blast Governor on Slow Moving Orange County Cemetery Construction]
Now, state leaders are looking to redesign the cemetery, removing large chunks of the grading work they’d originally planned to help lower the cost, according to Roberto Herrera, California’s deputy secretary of veterans affairs.
“The site’s beautiful. Why would you want to do that?” Herrera said in a Wednesday interview. “If we can bring that number down more and make a more visually appealing cemetery that’s what we want to do.”
The new grading will also help preserve the existing hills and scenic views at the site, something welcomed by Nick Berardino, president of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County who helped push for the cemetery to be built.
Berardino, a combat Marine in the Vietnam War, said the move could mean a cemetery gets built faster.
“Their idea on the redesign, scaling back the grading, is going to make it much more accessible and really a lot nicer,” Berardino said in a Wednesday interview. “It’s going to be really beautiful, it will eliminate millions of dollars of grading, and it will move the project much faster.”
Veterans cemeteries usually cost far less money, according to Herrera, pointing to the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery that he said cost around $10 million from start to finish.
Orange County’s veterans cemetery project got an unexpected boost this week with an extra $10 million from the federal government, pushing the total amount of money for the project from $55 to $65 million.
The extra funding came as a bit of a surprise to proponents of the cemetery after the federal government placed Orange County’s cemetery in 27th place on their priority funding list.
[Read: OC Veterans Cemetery Gets on Federal Funding List, Faces Priority Hurdle]
“We were never disqualified for funding,” Herrera said. “It just looked rather bleak.”
But that changed after pushes from all of Orange County’s congressional delegation and both California senators, according to Berardino, who praised their work on the project.
“It was the constant effort by the Orange County congressional delegation and both US Senators – Schiff and Padilla – who added even more strength to the ask, and that pushed it over the top,” Berardino said.
Congresswoman Young Kim, whose current district covers the cemetery site, said she met with the undersecretary for memorial affairs personally and helped push for the site to be kept in the running for funding.
“After years of working with local veterans, bipartisan partners, and VA leadership to keep this project moving, it’s encouraging,” Kim said in a Wednesday statement. “I’m grateful the VA recognizes what our community has long known: Gypsum Canyon is ready to go.”
Herrera also noted the federal government could decide to give them even more money, but the initial grant would cover up to $10 million, most of which would likely be spent on design.
Congressmen Dave Min and Derek Tran also issued statements celebrating the decision.
Tran noted he would continue to push for the project’s completion in a Wednesday statement.
“I am encouraged by this eligibility determination and will continue fighting, with our state and local partners, to ensure the Gypsum Canyon Cemetery receives the necessary funding to build the resting place our Veterans deserve.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.