EBS Staff
The City of Bozeman and Veterans Alliance of Southwest Montana recently set aside a third of an acre and built two columbaria in the Sunset Hills Cemetery to establish a Veterans Cemetery. The Bozeman City Commission welcomes the public to a Veteran’s Memorial Service on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the Sunset Hill Cemetery near the Veterans Wall.
The recently completed phase one of the project includes two columbaria, structures meant for urns to be safely stored, that have space for 480 cremated remains, according to a Nov.8 City of Bozeman press release. Phase two will involve landscaping for people to input remains in the ground, as well as two more columbaria. Phase three will create a service shelter for people to meet in the cemetery.
The effort to establish a Veterans’ cemetery began more than a decade ago when veterans established the Veterans Alliance of Southwest Montana. The group approached the City Commission, who supported financially and agreed to set aside space in the Sunset Hills Cemetery.
The Veterans Alliance was able to raise more than $100,000 for the effort and worked with the City to ensure the cemetery was built to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specifications in the event the cemetery could become a state or national resting place. The City does not charge veterans for the plots and instead works with the VA to get reimbursed.
