The state Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a consecration service for Alabama's new Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort on April 17.
A department spokesman said representatives of different religions will offer blessings and conduct rituals appropriate to their faiths during the 10 a.m. service. He said the service is in preparation for the cemetery's first interments.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded the state a $7 million grant to develop the cemetery on a 120-acre site on Alabama Highway 225. Work began on the cemetery in October 2011.