A new Upper Cumberland Veterans Cemetery officially set to move forward in White County after meeting last week.
White County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson met with state leaders to finalize the next steps for the regional site. The state is currently working on the architectural plans for the property.
“Well, everything is a go,” Robinson said. “Money’s been appropriated. They’re in the design phase now, designing a chapel and a maintenance building. And we’re looking into raising some more money locally to help maybe some with HVAC projects so that it’s just a nice environment for our veterans and their families when the facility is needed. So it’s good news.”
Robinson said the facility will be located in White County but is designed to serve the entire surrounding region,. Local families previously had to travel to major cities to access dedicated military burial grounds, Robinson said.
“Oh, it’s very important,” Robinson said. “And it’s very needed. You know, looking at Nashville, Knoxville, or Chattanooga for our veterans if they wanted to be buried in a veteran cemetery. So this gives the opportunity for the people in the Upper Cumberland and just this region and their families to be able to respectfully have a service for their veterans and still be close enough that they can come and visit. So it’ll be a great addition to our region.”
The project remains in the early stages as officials finalize the blueprints for the grounds.
“Well, we’re just in the planning phases,” Robinson said. “So I would say probably it would take probably about a year or so for it to be up and running would be a good guess.”