State Subcommittee Gives Green Light For State Veterans Cemetery

The State Building Commission’s Executive Subcommittee has given the green light to move forward with acquiring property for an Upper Cumberland State Veterans Cemetery.

The State Department of Veterans Services will look to acquire 93-acres near the Genesis Road Exit on Interstate 40 in Cumberland County.

Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers said the location would accomplish one of the National Cemetery Association’s goals.

“The new cemetery will serve the Upper Cumberland Region of Tennessee and will ensure that all veterans and their families across the state are within 75-miles of either a national or state veterans cemetery,” Rogers said. “The Upper Cumberland will be just like Parkers Crossroads, a rural location to better service our distressed and rural areas.”

Parkers Crossroads opened in Henderson County in July 2018. The 132-acre cemetery serves more than 45,000 veterans and their families within 17 counties in west Tennessee.

The Cumberland County Property Assessor has valued the land at $251,700. The state has not announced a purchase price.

State lawmakers appropriated $600,000 for purchasing the land in 2018. In addition, the Upper Cumberland State Veterans Cemetery Association raised $200,000 for the land acquisition.

Travis Murphy is the Assistant Commissioner for the Department of Veterans Services. He said the State of Tennessee Real Estate Asset Management (STREAM) team will now begin contract negotiations and environmental testing.

“If all works out, it could take 90 to 120 days to get to an actual closing,” Murphy said. “Still a number of steps, but I think a real positive development in terms of getting to a place where we are continuing to move forward with the Upper Cumberland State Veterans Cemetery.”

The state will provide an update about the acquisition when the Upper Cumberland State Veterans Cemetery Association meets in February.