$3 Million in Improvements Underway at Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetary

More than $3 million in improvements to Wyoming's Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery, in Evansville, are underway. Larry Barttelbort, director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission., says the improvements include improved roadways, increased parking and interment options.

Barttelbort says raising all headstones to ground level is the first project scheduled. Some headstones have sunk several inches over the past 27 years of interments. Other projects include replacing the main irrigation lines, and adding a new storage building, new entrance gate, columbarium (above ground interment for cremated remains) and information kiosk. The chapel will also receive new siding.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation will oversee the resurfacing of the cemetery road, interior roadways and the repair of the bridge over the North Platte River. Barttelbort says Construction is being phased to minimize impacts to funeral services and is expected to be complete in 2014. The improvements are funded through approximately $1 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and $2 million appropriated by the Wyoming Legislature.