NEWTON — In eight to 12 months, a major expansion will be complete at The State Veterans Memorial Cemetery. 

Officials held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday for the $3.6 million project, which  will add space for 1,500 crypts and cover five acres.

Each crypt will hold two coffin spaces, one for the veteran and another for the veteran’s dependent of choice. The expansion includes new landscaping, irrigation and other supporting infrastructure.

Currently, 1,100 people are buried at the cemetery, which opened in 2009. The first burial took place on July 5, 2011, for Sgt. Henry Lewak Trest, a U. S. Army Korean veteran. 

“The groundbreaking signifies that our veteran’s community continues to turn to our state veteran’s cemeteries for their final resting place,” said Stacey Pickering, executive director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board. “A place of dignity and honor.”

Randy Reeves, the undersecretary for Memorial Affairs, said cemeteries like the one in Newton County are important because they represent the sacrifices of those serving our country. 

“That’s why we are here today,” he said. “We have to tell their names and tell their stores so that they will live forever and never be forgotten.” 

The cemetery is located about three miles east of Newton and five miles west of Hickory.