CREST HAVEN – A concept plan for the second part of the Cape May County Veterans Cemetery improvement project was presented March 25 to the county commissioners, who gave it a nod of approval.
Jason Tronco, of Melillo, Bauer, Carman Landscape Architects, gave the slide presentation explaining plans for functional and aesthetic upgrades to the cemetery.
Following the $1.68 million Phase I of the project, Phase II will include $2.2 million in upgrades. A vegetative buffer will be installed between the cemetery and the correctional center. The maintenance yard will be upgraded with a new drive-through pole barn for equipment storage, and there will be a new walkway to the directory building, which helps visitors find plots.
Along the way there will be upgraded way-finding signage to further help identify where plots are located. Phase II will also include additional seating, shade structures and gardens.
There will be a memorial walk and a prayer garden, which will be walled to create a sense of enclosure.
Tronco told the commissioners a contract for the work could be awarded by the end of summer, with construction coming to a close around Veterans Day 2026.
Members of the Veterans Cemetery Committee spoke in support of the project, including Dennis Spilker of Spilker Funeral Home in Cape May. He said he is new to the committee but for 32 years has been providing funeral services that include visits to the cemetery.
Spilker said he was “floored” by Phase I. He said the cemetery entrance was greatly enhanced and that the work has had a great impact on family members, knowing their veteran was being laid to rest in a beautiful setting.
“This is the last car ride our veterans will take, and it’s very important,” Spilker said.
Committee member and Lower Township Mayor Frank Sippel, who retired from the Army after 36 years as a command sergeant major, said he served with thousands of soldiers and has visited a lot of county cemeteries.
“This one is second to none,” Sippel said. “It is so important to the soldiers. It’s like a brotherhood in the military.”
Another committee member, Tomaso Rotundi, said when a soldier dies it is the worst day for the veteran’s family, and he stressed the importance of a visually appealing cemetery location.
“We want them to have something they want to come back to,” he said.
Phase I included installation of 13,000 square yards of interior roadway asphalt, 3,100 square yards of topsoil seeding, 22,000 brick pavers, new curbs and sidewalk, lighting upgrades, 24 new shade, ornamental and evergreen trees, more than 1,000 new plants, and a ceremony/reflection plaza with six benches, according to information provided by the county.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
