Lubbock City Council to transfer land to state for veterans cemetery

Alex Driggars Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - 3/8/2023

Following the announcement last month of federal funding to support a Lubbock veterans cemetery, the City Council on Tuesday took the next significant steps toward the project by approving the transfer of city land and unveiling a potential concept for the site.

The council agreed to execute a donation of 100 acres of city-owned land on East 50th Street, located just outside East Loop 289, to the Texas Veterans Land Board for what could be one of five veterans cemeteries in the state. The land is located just outside of the city limits and officials said they are now beginning the process of annexing the land.

The council previously pledged the land to the cause last April, hoping to attract funding. That funding came Feb. 24, with U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, announcing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would award $9.5 million to the Texas General Land Office for a veterans cemetery in Lubbock.

The project has quickly gathered momentum since the announcement of funding last month. In 2021, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, estimated it could be 20 years or more before Lubbock sees a functioning veterans cemetery.

"This probably isn't a three-year deal, more of a 20-year initiative, but we're working on it," Perry told the Avalanche-Journal in 2021.

Now, officials are estimating the project could go out for construction bids my mid-summer.

 
 
 
 

 "It speeds up. It slows down. I would tell you that where you sit today, it has not just sped up — it has two feet on the gas pedal," City Manager Jarrett Atkinson told the council Tuesday.

"There's some minor work on the site. There are a couple of old agricultural wells that we have agreed we will plug," Atkinson continued. "It will get pretty hot and heavy as we approach May. That’s when we’ll get ready to do the final transfers, then by mid-summer, you will see the State of Texas through the Texas Veterans Land Board actually go out to bid."

Councilman Steve Massengale praised the move, saying the new cemetery will benefit throngs of what he called "underserved veterans." The state estimates more than 20,000 area veterans could be served by the Lubbock cemetery.

"As we consider where families would bury their loved ones — those that have served and fought for freedom and liberty — Lubbock is in a really good place. Having dedicated the land was the leverage that we needed for the federal government and the state government to buy into our concept," Massengale said.