DMVA: VA-funded veterans cemetery to break ground near Fairbanks; operating funds likely next year

Department of Military and Veterans Affairs officials told the finance subcommittee on March 24 that the department has received U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs funding to build a new veterans cemetery near Fairbanks and expects to break ground once weather clears.

"We did get the funding from the VA," Deputy Commissioner Craig Christensen said while showing an artist's rendering of the cemetery and a proposed timeline. He told the committee DMVA anticipates the cemetery will be ready by FY27 and that the department will request operating funds "probably in the neighborhood of $1,200,000." Christensen said the ground‑breaking should occur in about a month, weather permitting.

Ernesi and Christensen described the funding as federal VA support for construction; the committee was not given a construction contract or award number during the briefing, nor a finalized operating budget. The department said it will return with specific operating requests as the project advances.

The subcommittee did not take formal action on the cemetery project during the session. Members thanked DMVA for the update; next procedural steps will be budget follow‑up and any supplemental or operating appropriations needed to open the cemetery for use.