There are 735 pre-registrations for the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Lubbock that doesn’t open until the end of next year.
Lubbock is negotiating a contract with the Texas Veterans Land Board to hire people for day-to-day operations at the cemetery.
The City and Board expect to have the contract done by October or November to reimburse the City for the staff and supplies to run the cemetery at 4614 East 50th Street. Hiring is set for April.
“It doesn’t cost Lubbock taxpayers a penny to operate this cemetery,” said John Kelley, director of the Texas State Veterans Cemetery Program.
There’s a reason employees get hired long before it opens.
“The next thing we need to do is start hiring personnel so we can train personnel. I don’t think you want the cemetery to be completed and then wait another 6 to 8 months to do the hiring and the training,” Kelley said during a presentation to the Lubbock City Council in July.
So far, the cemetery is on time and on budget.
People already signed up
Kelley credited the cemetery’s Veterans Land Board on-site representative, Norm Beardon.
While the city will hire nine full-time employees and one part-time employee, Beardon will be the one state employee on site.
“His primary purpose is going to be to ensure that the standards are maintained,” Kelley said.
“Even though those will be Lubbock employees, the standards that are applied out there are actually National Cemetery Administration standards. And we get inspected on those standards formally every three years,” Kelley told the City Council.
Between now and then, Beardon promotes the cemetery.
“Norm is doing a great job engaging with your community. … I know at least two times a week he’s at the VA Clinic, sitting there at a registration desk helping people pre-register for the cemetery. And then he’s out there addressing various veterans’ groups,” Kelley said.
Families cannot sign up online but can reach out to Bearden for an application.
Apply with Norm Bearden
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (512) 913-7985
In person: Lubbock VA Clinic, 3510 4th Street, Tuesday mornings from 9 to 11, and Wednesday afternoons from 2 to 4.
“If they visit the VA clinic and I’m not there, they do keep a stack of pre-registration applications to hand out,” Bearden said.
More gravesites coming
Construction should be done in November 2025. It will be open for operation a month later, initially serving 4,100 veterans and eligible family members, Bearden said.
Bearden told LubbockLights.com only a portion of the site is currently under development. The final number of resting places is not determined yet.
Bearden makes it clear he doesn’t know the exact number yet, but thinks 10,000 gravesites might be realistic on the current site.
(A previous statement said 21,000 but Bearden provided a corrected number for LubbockLights.com.)
“There is property on the east side that would be available for expansion if everything falls into place,” Bearden said.
That property is owned by the city, and like the current acreage, could be donated if there’s a need and things work out.
Slideshow: Artist renderings from City Council presentation and images of the site by LubbockLights.com
Strange twist in funding
In 2022, Lubbock donated 100 acres for what will become the fifth veterans cemetery in Texas. State officials moved quickly to accept the donation and apply for federal funding.
But Lubbock was too low on the list and got passed over.
However, one day Kelley got a surprise.
“A few months later in January, we were told if we could reduce the scope of the project there may be some funding,” Kelly told the Texas Veterans Cemetery Committee in June.
“One territory who had applied for grants just simply wasn’t ready to go, and so the clock was ticking,” Kelley said.
“NCA [the National Cemetery Administration] essentially took their money from them and gave it to the state of Texas. And so, we were quite happy with that,” Kelley said.
The money, $15.9 million, came with a big catch. Work to accept and set up the grant that is normally done in 12 months had to be done in 7.
Kelley said he and his team got it done. Work started on the site in November.
Architectural style
“We wanted to integrate in as much of West Texas and Lubbock culture as we could,” Kelley said.
While showing an artist rendering to the Council, Kelley said, “That brick pattern you see is the Texas Tech grid pattern. And there’s a rendition of what the administration building is going to look like with the red roof and the brick pattern.”
The sidewalks and a memorial walkway will also use the Texas Tech color scheme.
“When we think of West Texas, we think of cattle drives and cowboys and horses. So, we came up with a bit of a unique approach on the fencing,” Kelley said.
It will be a horizontal slat fence inspired by a design that’s already in use at a burial ground in Arkansas.
“It’s gorgeous. We think it’s going to be gorgeous here as well, and very appropriate for the purpose of fencing around a state veterans site. It looks all-the-world like something you’d ride up to on your horse,” Kelley said.
Bell tower
While state and federal money pays for a lot of features, there’s one thing on the list needing private funding. A bell tower.
“It will be very similar to the Bell Towers in place at the other cemeteries. Those towers are 40 feet tall. The actual music that comes from the bell tower will be electronic,” Bearden said.
Except for the electronics, “That Bell Tower will be fabricated locally,” Bearden said.
Kelley said a relatively new 501(c)(3) was formed – Friends of the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery.
“They’re actually doing fundraising right now for the bell tower. We cannot purchase the bell tower with the VA grant. We have to purchase that independently,” Kelley said to the council.
Money for the bell tower is now in hand, according to Steve Massengale, who helped form the non-profit organization. The Helen Jones Foundation was a major contributor, he said.
There might be future projects for the cemetery using private funds and anyone interested in helping can contact Massengale at [email protected].
In addition to the tower, Bearden said two monument benches were donated and all the local veteran service organizations either approved funding or are in the process of funding monuments at the cemetery.
“That is excellent news for us that all of the service organizations are buying in to the Veterans Cemetery,” Bearden said.
More local support
Someone set up a 25-foot cross near the cemetery, Bearden said – although he did not have details on who did that. The Lubbock Regional Multi-Agency Honor Guard committed funds for a weapons container on site.
And there’s one more thing people can do to help, Bearden said.
“If folks are on Facebook, if they would go to the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery page on Facebook and like and follow that page,” Bearden said.
You can click here to do that.
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