VA Contracts for Sarasota and Jacksonville National Cemeteries

VA Contracts for Sarasota and Jacksonville National Cemeteries
Peake: National Shrines to Honor Veterans

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded two contracts totaling $8.2 million for construction of national cemeteries in Sarasota and Jacksonville, Fla.

“Providing national shrines to honor veterans in Florida has been a VA priority, and these contracts take us closer to bringing those facilities to reality,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.  “These cemeteries represent our commitment to honor our nation’s heroes and their families in national shrines.”

For the Sarasota facility, US Builders Group, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business from Detroit, Mich., has received $4.2 million to develop a small section of the facility by early winter.

The initial project in Sarasota will develop approximately 20 acres with 2,000 pre-placed-crypt gravesites and 2,000 in-ground cremation burial sites, along with a temporary committal service shelter and an administration and maintenance complex. 
When the Sarasota cemetery’s full first phase of development is completed in 2011, 60 developed acres will provide 18,200 casket gravesites, a columbarium for cremation remains and a scattering garden.

The developed Sarasota cemetery will include a public information center with an electronic grave locator and public restrooms, a flag assembly area and two committal service shelters that will use solar panels.  VA purchased the 295-acre site in April for $14 million.  About 400,000 veterans live in southwestern Florida. 

For the Jacksonville cemetery, VA has awarded a $4.2 million contract to LEI Construction of Tampa, Fla., a service-disabled veteran-owned business, to begin site preparation on a 569-acre tract north of Jacksonville International Airport.  The cemetery will serve about 190,000 veterans and their families within the region.

The Jacksonville contract calls for construction of roads, walkways, buildings, electrical work, utilities and pre-placed crypts.
Veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children can be buried in a national cemetery.