A ribbon-cutting Thursday for the newly-renovated Guam Veterans Cemetery chapel marked not just a reopening, but the start of a much larger vision for the site. Here's what’s planned next. 

The Guam Veterans Cemetery chapel is officially back in service—newly renovated with federal funding and once again open to serve veterans and their families. The $816,000 project, paid for with American Rescue Plan funds, includes upgrades to the chapel, administrative offices, and a maintenance shop—improvements officials say were long overdue.

Guam Office of Veterans Affairs director Jose San Agustin says the work restores the cemetery’s ability to provide dignified services during burials, viewings, and memorials. "I wanted to drive this initiative forward to ensure that we accommodate and do the right thing for the families.  To the governor and lt. Governor, si yuus maase for helping identifying the funding and making this project a possibility , to our legislative leaders si yuus maase in continuing to believe in what we do," he said.

San agustin says the next major project could be a $15.6 million cemetery expansion—nearly double earlier estimates due to rising material and labor costs. The funding is still in the pre-application stage, but would allow the removal of a hillside on the west side of the property to create space for 1,480 new grave plots.

That expansion, he says, would extend the cemetery’s lifespan by another 10 to 12 years.

Requests for architectural and engineering designs are already out, with plans expected to go through the Department of Public Works and the National Cemetery Administration for final approval. And with one year left with this administration, San Agustin says his focus remains.

"I'll be driving forward requesting for more funding, so that we can meet the mandates that is required by the National Cemetery Administration of me. We're not even halfway there, but I will do my best with what I got left to ensure standard operating procedures so when I leave the next person that comes in opens up the binder and knows what to do," he said.