SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Spanish Fort will soon welcome the first state-run veterans’ cemetery, funded by a $7.6 million grant from the National Cemetery Administration.

“So many Alabamians have fought bravely and selflessly for this country, and they deserve to have a final resting place here in Alabama,” said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley during the official signing ceremony Friday, approving formally the legislation that allows construction of the historic resting place.

 “We can never fully repay the debt we owe our veterans, but we must do everything we can to honor their service and remember their sacrifice in life and in death. It is my hope that this new cemetery will serve not only as a benefit for our veterans, but also as a lasting memorial of their service for this area and this state.”

The Saluda Hill State Veterans Cemetery, which will be situated on a 103-acre site on Alabama Highway 225 across from the Historic Blakeley Park entrance, is expected to serve some 71,000 veterans in southwest Alabama.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs operates two national cemeteries in Alabama—with a third under construction at American Village in Montevallo—but convenient in-state burial options for veterans in the southern portion of the state are limited.

Combined, the cemeteries in Mobile and Fort Mitchell in Seale hold 12,000 interments, but the Mobile cemetery has been closed to all but family members of veterans for more than 40 years.

Said Rear Adm. (Ret.) Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs: “This cemetery will allow Alabama to take its rightful place among the top states that provide the very best support to its veterans, even after they have fought their last battle by laying them in final repose with all the honor, dignity and respect they earned as military men, women, veterans and heroes.”