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VA will not budge on cutting down forest in Crown Hill Cemetery

John Tuohy
john.tuohy@indystar.com
Attendees voice opinions during an informational meeting with Veterans Affairs officials about the plans for a military cemetery at Crown Hill, held at the Indiana War Memorial, Indianapolis, Ind., Thursday, September 29, 2016.

Rambunctious activists demanded Thursday that U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials bury plans to build a national cemetery in a heavily wooded section of Crown Hill Cemetery.

About 250 people attended a public meeting at the Indiana War Memorial in Downtown Indianapolis to voice objections to the razing of 15 acres of old forest to build the cemetery.

In the end, however, they were told that it was unlikely the VA would reconsider.

"At this point, we don't see any need," said Glenn Madderom, director of the cemetery development and improvement service for the VA, to hoots and jeers.

Afterward, Julie Edwards, 49, Indianapolis, warned that the fight had just begun.

"They haven't seen anything yet; this is only gong to snowball," Edwards said. "There was zero movement on their end to acknowledge our distress."

Before the public had a chance to weigh in, a lengthy presentation about the need for the cemetery was made by Glenn Powers, a deputy undersecretary of Veterans Affairs. He said Indianapolis veterans and their families have to travel more than an hour by car to the nearest national cemetery, in Marion. About 250,000 veterans live in Central Indiana, and Crown Hill was selected for its history and natural beauty, Powers said.

"The issue is Marion is a distance for the veterans," Powers said, after showing a video about veterans cemeteries. "The core of the population is located a great distance."

But about a half-hour into Powers' presentation, audience members began interrupting him with questions about the trees. Earlier, they had held signs outside reading, "Save the Crown Hill woods" and "The VA doesn't care."

The next speaker, Madderom, didn't fare much better. The audience interrupted him several times and laughed loudly once at a reference to how bucolic the cemetery would be.

Attendees listen during a question-and-answer portion at the end of an informational meeting with Veterans Affairs officials about the plans for a military cemetery at Crown Hill, held at the Indiana War Memorial, Indianapolis, Ind., Thursday, September 29, 2016.

"Can you point out the 500-year-old tree on the map?" one person yelled.

The stretch of forest, along 42nd Street between Michigan and Clarendon roads, has trees more than 300 years old and one estimated at 500 years. The forest, with 70 acres altogether, is one of the oldest in the Midwest.

Crown Hill sold the land to the VA last fall for $810,000. Construction is scheduled to begin next April and would take about 18 months.

The "columbarium cemetery" would hold about 2,500 urns, with room to grow and hold 25,000, for veterans and eligible relatives. It would include a main entrance from 42nd Street, a wall, a parking lot, roads, a shelter and a public restroom.

Madderom said the columbarium would rival Arlington National Cemetery's, to which one audience member shouted, "It's all concrete."

"Please, please reconsider relocation. It could be a win-win," said Felicity Kelcourse, 63, an associate professor at Christian Theological Seminary, across the street from Crown Hill. "I feel like Crown Hill tricked you into a controversy. You could end up the hero of this."

Rachel Laucevicius, 34, who said she was a veteran, told VA officials that despite the beauty of the planned cemetery, "I think you are cheating" by taking the old forest.

"It is stealing," she said. "There are so many other sites in Marion County to put this."

Madderom said the VA had already redesigned the cemetery to save more trees than in the original plan. But arborist Holly James, 45, said once the forest is disturbed, it begins a deadly cycle.

"The trees you plan to take down began their honorable service before the honorable veterans you want to serve were born," she said. "We are desperate to keep those trees alive."

Opponents also are upset that no public hearings were held before or after the sale and said they hoped public pressure now would convince the VA to find an alternative site.

An environmental impact study by the VA found that the tree clear wouldn't dramatically upset the ecosystem and that birds, deer and other animals would have plenty of places to go on the cemetery's 555 acres.

Crown Hill President Keith Norwalk, who did not attend the meeting, told IndyStar beforehand he was surprised at the sudden backlash because the plan had been extensively advertised a year ago and no one raised an objection until last month.

Site plan for veteran's national cemetery at Crown Hill Cemetery

The veterans cemetery is to be built in three stages. During the first, only 7 of 15 acres will be razed, and smaller trees will be planted in place of the lost ones. The second phase won't start for 30 years, and only 10 percent more of the woods would be uprooted then, until phase three in 50 years.

"So 40 percent of the woods will be preserved for 50 years while we do replacement plantings," Norwalk said.

VA officials said Crown Hill was one of five sites selected nationwide for new columbaria.

Some opponents blamed the VA and Crown Hill for choosing the spot with the oldest trees on which to develop. But Norwalk said there were no other spots in the 555-acre cemetery where the military monument could go. One obvious nearby spot that opponents have mentioned, close to Clarendon Road and 42nd Street, is already reserved for future burials.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.

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