BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Final paperwork should be completed in days for construction of a state veteran’s cemetery north of Spanish Fort which will be the resting place for tens of thousands of veterans.

Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh (Ret.), commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, told Baldwin County Commissioners on Tuesday that $7 million in federal funds is available to construct the cemetery, but final ownership of mineral rights at the site must be completed before funds are released.

“If you are not able to secure full ownership of the property, we will have to tell the government we are not ready to move forward,” Marsh said. “If so, federal monies may be moved to another state which is ready to move forward.”

Commission chairman Frank Burt said the mineral rights acquisition should be completed in days.

Marsh said an architectual and engineering firm has been selected to perform environmental and historical assessments and create a site plan. Construction should begin this year.

“The location is near perfect, and it will meet all specifications of national VA cemeteries,” Marsh said.

The cemetery, a 103-acre tract situated on State Road 225 across from Historic Blakeley State Park, will be designed to accommodate veteran burials for 75 years, according to Spanish Fort Viet Nam veteran and veteran advocate Barry Booth.

Booth said there are about 70,000 veterans in south Alabama, but the cemetery will be open to veterans nationwide and eligible family members, which includes spouses and dependent children of veterans.

When paperwork is complete, the county will donate the property to the state. Federal monies will be used to develop the tract and the state will maintain it.

The U.S. Department of Federal Affairs requires mineral ownership in order to apply for federal grants to develop the property for internment of veterans.

The county owns the property, but acquiring mineral rights from nine entities, representing 60-plus people, has delayed the project.