National Cemetery Administration
Arkansas Receives Grant to Expand Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at North Little Rock
September 28, 2021
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration announced today that the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program (VCGP), which it oversees, has awarded a grant of up to $6,500,975 to the state of Arkansas for the expansion of Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at North Little Rock.
"Since the VA's Little Rock National Cemetery closed to first interments in 2001, the state Veterans cemetery in North Little Rock has been the closest Veterans cemetery serving Arkansas' most populous metropolitan area," said Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Matthew Quinn. "It is most fitting that the VA provide this grant to ensure that Arkansas can expand the cemetery in North Little Rock and continue to serve our Veterans for decades to come."
Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at North Little Rock currently serves more than 93,000 Veterans and their eligible family members living within 75 miles of the cemetery. The grant will fund 1,500 in-ground cremains gravesites, improvements to the buildings, stream bank improvements, burial section improvements, irrigation, landscaping and supporting infrastructure on approximately 9 acres of land.
VCGP complements the VA national cemetery system by funding state, territorial and tribal Veterans cemeteries, increasing access to burial benefits for Veterans and their eligible family members. Since its inception in 1978, the program has provided more than $910 million to establish, expand, improve, operate and maintain 119 cemeteries in which Veterans are currently interred. In fiscal year 2020, these cemeteries conducted more than 37,000 burials.
For more information about the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at North Little Rock, contact Mada Stanley, Cemetery Director, Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs at (501) 683-2259 or email Mada.Stanley@arkansas.gov.
