An $18 million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs will help fund construction of a new state veterans cemetery in northern Huntsville.
New cemetery will serve North Alabama veterans
The project is expected to serve more than 16,000 veterans and their families across North Alabama. The cemetery will include several facilities to support daily operations, including an administration building, maintenance building, committal service shelter and assembly area.
Plans call for 543 above-ground burial vaults, 144 traditional gravesites, 999 in-ground cremains gravesites and 600 columbarium niches.
Grant will cover major site improvements
The funding will also support the infrastructure needed to develop the cemetery. Planned improvements include an entrance feature, internal roads, landscaping, irrigation, site furnishings and equipment.
The project is part of a larger VA grant program designed to help states provide veterans and their families with access to burial services closer to home.
Another Alabama veterans cemetery will expand
A separate $283,200 grant will support an expansion of the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort. That project will add 2,050 in-ground cremains gravesites along with landscaping, hardscape, irrigation and other infrastructure.
Across the country, 44,705 veterans and family members were buried at VA grant-funded cemeteries in 2025. Since 1980, the VA has awarded more than $1 billion through its grant program to support 125 veterans cemeteries nationwide.
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