The new columbarium is an above-ground, cremation-only facility that will serve veterans and their eligible family members in the greater Los Angeles area for decades to come. (photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration recently completed the first phase of its columbarium expansion project at Los Angeles National Cemetery. The cemetery was closed to new burials for casketed remains in 1978. The new columbarium is an above-ground, cremation-only facility that will serve veterans and their eligible family members in the greater Los Angeles Area for decades to come.

Construction began on the 4.4-acre project in September 2017. This phase of the project includes a committal shelter, restrooms and a gravesite locator kiosk. For now, 10,357 niches have been created, though the final capacity is expected to be 90,854 niches.

The columbarium expansion at Los Angeles National Cemetery is the first project under NCA’s Urban Initiative to open. The Urban Initiative improves access to burial benefits in certain densely populated areas to better serve veterans, their spouses and families. In some of the largest urban areas that VA serves – New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and Indianapolis – the national cemeteries which still have capacity are more than 60 miles removed from the service area core. These cemeteries inter a smaller percentage of eligible veterans than other large-city national cemeteries that are located closer to its urban core. In most cases, sites that are large enough to provide the full range of burial services over an extended period are not available. VA determined that these cities could be better served by developing space-efficient, columbarium-only cemeteries within or nearer the urban core. The nearest cemetery for Los Angeles veterans is Riverside National Cemetery, which is approximately 80 miles away.

On Oct. 1, the National Cemetery Scheduling Office will begin to schedule committal services in the new columbarium for services beginning Oct. 15. The new columbarium is above-ground, cremation-only. Los Angeles National Cemetery can accommodate casket burials for veterans and eligible family members joining their loved one in an existing gravesite. Riverside National Cemetery is the closest cemetery that offers all burial options for new interments.

For information, visit vaa.gov/burials-memorials.