The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has abandoned plans to build a columbarium cemetery – to house cremated remains of veterans – in South Barrington and is seeking a location elsewhere, according to village and VA officials.
“The VA columbarium never came to fruition here and we tried to find the VA another spot in town, but we have no evidence that they were interested in exploring our suggestions,” said South Barrington mayor Paula McCombie. “We received an email from them on Sept. 10 stating that the property was no longer available and that they were concluding any further evaluation and actions for the Freeman Road site.”
Les’ A. Melnyk, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Association for the Department of Veterans Affairs, confirmed the VA will not be developing the site at 10 Freeman Road, in the northwest suburban town, since someone else purchased the property the VA had been eyeing.
In Nov. 2019, more than 100 people crowded into the South Barrington Village Hall for a town hall meeting to discuss the proposed columbarium that would have housed the cremated remains of about 5,000 veterans on a 15-acre parcel in South Barrington.
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Related: “National veterans cemetery in South Barrington: How about a different spot in town, leaders say”
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