The North Dakota Veterans Cemetery will start construction next month to expand the facilities and enhance the grounds.

North Dakota received a $3.1 million grant from the Veterans Administration to cover most of the cost to expand the visitation center, chapel and maintenance building at the cemetery. It also will fund site improvements to the grounds, including additional roads, curbs, gutters, sidewalks and sprinkler systems.

An additional $150,000 was needed to cover the remainder of the cost. The money was raised from burial fees, paid by the families, and from burial plot allowances from the VA. No money donated from families was used.

The 13-year-old cemetery has had 2,678 burials, averaging a little more than 200 burials a year. New roads are needed to provide access to the increasing number of burial plots. Currently the plots are consuming seven acres of the 35-acre cemetery.

The public building at the cemetery will be expanded more than 1,200 square feet. The building will be expanded to the north, south and west to increase room for administration and the chapel. Two additions include a casket handling area and two bathrooms.

The current maintenance building will be used to handle the headstones. A new maintenance building more than 8,000 square feet will be built.

The construction is expected to be completed by October of 2006.

Master Sgt. Phil Miller, director of the Veterans Cemetery, said they had applied for the grant three years ago and it took this long to process the paperwork.

"We're not surprised that we got the grant, but we are very grateful," he said.

The North Dakota Veterans Cemetery is the only one that is exclusively for veterans and their families. A veteran, spouse and dependents can be buried in the same plot.

Miller said that many people only think one dependent can be buried, but as long as dependents can provide the correct documentation, they can be buried at the cemetery.

The North Dakota Veterans Cemetery is located at 1825 46th St., Mandan. For more information about the cemetery, call 667-1418.