God’s Acre cemetery undergoing expansion

Construction equipment is in place at Veterans Cemetery in preparation for the expansion of the military cemetery operated by Veterans Affairs Canada. The project is expected to be completed in late summer and make room for 1,500 new graves through granite columbariums. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout Newspaper

Construction equipment is in place at Veterans Cemetery in preparation for the expansion of the military cemetery operated by Veterans Affairs Canada. The project is expected to be completed in late summer and make room for 1,500 new graves through granite columbariums. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout Newspaper

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

A construction project at Veterans Cemetery, also known as God’s Acre Cemetery, will provide approximately 1,500 additional burial spaces at the National Historic.

The cemetery, shaded by tall trees and nestled between the 12th and 17th holes of Esquimalt’s Gorge Vale Golf Club, was established in 1868 by the Royal Navy and is one of two cemeteries operated by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). The other is Fort Massey Cemetery in Halifax.

The site occupies 2.7 acres and houses 2,500 military graves, but is close to capacity.

Emile Gallant, VAC’s Manager of Funeral, Burial and Cemetery Maintenance, says the recent expansion of the site and related construction project will lead to the construction of 21 columbariums, where cinerary urns will be stored.

“VAC has been working very closely with community groups and the local community to make this project happen,” says Gallant. “People will be very happy to learn that the cemetery will continue to be a resting spot for those who served in the military.”

To address the cemetery’s ­current space shortfall, VAC purchased a .62 acre parcel of land from Gorge Vale Golf Club in March 2016 to allow room for the columbariums. Public Services and Procurement Canada then awarded a construction contract to Western Watershed to design the cemetery, and Lees and Associates to manage the worksite.

The columbariums are elevated granite structures used to store urns containing ashes of the dead.  They will measure approximately 1.8 metres in height and 90 cm in width and are made of light berry granite, consistent with many of the other markers on the site.

Seven columbariums will be built initially, but there is space to build 14 additional ones when needed. Gallant said the initial construction work will be completed by summer’s end.

Bob Haldane, chair of the annual Candlelight Vigil at Veterans Cemetery, says the expansion is great news for his group, and Victoria’s military community, who will now have the ability to continue interments at the site.

“It was a bad feeling to tell a veteran who enquired about how they could be buried at the site that they’ll have to wait,” said Haldane. “I think these people will be glad to know that now there will be a space at God’s Acre for them too.”

The construction project required the temporary removal of approximately 80 headstones to make way for a construction road to move equipment, workers and building materials to the site. Gallant said VAC is working closely with a professional cemetery monument company to ensure the safe removal of markers prior to construction and the proper restoration of headstones at the end of the project.

The cemetery dates back to 1868 when Rear-Admiral George Fowler Hastings purchased an acre of a turnip field from the Puget Sound Agricultural Company and converted it to a cemetery for sailors of Britain’s Royal Navy at a cost of $250.

Located at 1190 Colville Rd., the cemetery also features a chapel containing several Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy artifacts, and a Cross of Sacrifice.

More information on Veterans Cemetery is available online at: www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/national-inventory-canadian-memorials/details/9358

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