Maui Veterans Cemetery Improvements to Start May 27

The Hawai’i Army National Guard Funeral Honors Team at the Makawao Veterans Cemetery. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The Department of Defense Office of Veterans Services announced a planned improvement project at the Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao has been contracted out, with major work scheduled to begin on May 27, the day after Memorial Day.

The project involves the enhancement of approximately three acres of the existing seven acre property, and is intended in part to bring the cemetery up to “Shrine Status,” according to the announcement.

During the construction project, officials say affected areas will be cordoned off in several phases, precluding family members and friends from visiting their loved ones until the specific phases of the project are complete.

“During the interim period a Temporary Remembrance Area has been identified where flowers may be placed,” according to the announcement.

Defense officials say improvements include: cleaning, readjustment, and realignment of approximately 1,500 grave markers; leveling of irregularities over the ground surface; re-grassing approximately 132,000 square feet of turf; removing an asphalt walkway on the Eastern portion of the cemetery; and miscellaneous landscaping improvements.

More than $1 million in a federal grant award was secured for the project last year.

Also last year, the state filed a Draft Environmental Assessment, proposing expansion at the facility as it nears capacity for interment.

According to the announcement, a future project is also being planned to add 10-acres from the adjacent property, increasing the cemetery size to 17-acres.

The schedule and impacts of each phase will be identified on an informational sign posted at the cemetery’s Committal Shelter, the announcement said.