VA awards Washington Crossing cemetery work

Not that she's rushing things, but when Virginia Harman heard that a veterans cemetery was planned for Washington Crossing, she bought a blue Air Force jacket and slacks, a white shirt, and black shoes for the final mission.

"I'm waiting for that cemetery to open," said Harman, 88, of Bensalem, a disabled veteran who served six years in both the U.S. Army and Air Force.

Evidently, her wait for the military burial grounds is over. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced yesterday that it had awarded $8.7 million in contracts to get the new Washington Crossing National Cemetery ready for its first burials.

Of that, $7.2 million will go to a veteran-owned Detroit firm for construction work on 20 acres that will be used over the next two years while the rest of the cemetery is developed.

The additional $1.5 million was awarded to a Philadelphia company for design work on buildings and roads for the entire 205-acre site. When completed, probably in 2012, the cemetery is expected to have a capacity of about 15,000. The VA said burials could begin by the end of the year.

The nation has no shortage of cemetery space for veterans, VA spokeswoman Josephine Schuda said, but siting is a major concern. "The newer cemeteries are being built near where the people live," she said.

Harman, one of seven family members who served in the military, is all for that policy. She said she had a brother buried in Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington, "and that's too far away."

Designating a cemetery location, however, is not simple. Washington Crossing, for example, was the source of a decadelong struggle involving veterans groups, politicians, and 13 competing sites.

The cemetery land formerly was owned by Toll Bros. Inc., which sold it to the government.

Initially, Toll sought to make the sale contingent on zoning approval from Upper Makefield Township that would have allowed the company to build 210 houses on land it controlled near the cemetery.

Eventually, however, the company dropped that condition, and the VA bought the farmland for $10.5 million. That was about $2 million less than the appraised value, according to the VA. Bruce Toll, vice chairman of the builder, is also chairman of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., which publishes The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.

"We are really happy for the veterans, and are pleased to see that the VA is making progress on the site," Toll Bros. group president John Mangano said.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Washington Crossing in November, and it now appears that Harman and 580,000 Philadelphia-area veterans will have the option to be buried near their homes.

Said Harman: "I think it would be great news to any GI."