Punchbowl runs
out of spots
for urns

A late construction start means
space will not be available
until mid-June

---

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl Crater will run out of urn space by Monday because of delays in construction of a new 4,160-niche columbarium.

Niches will not become available until mid-June, said Gene Castagnetti, director of the cemetery.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Construction delays have caused the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl to run out of urn space.

"It's most certainly disappointing we weren't able to get this finished," Castagnetti said. "We knew January was going to be a critical point. We regret the inconvenience this may cause some families."

Had construction started on time, 500 niches would have been completed within the first 100 days of construction, Castagnetti said. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Cemetery Administration had foreseen the need for more space, and construction was to have begun in September.

The planned open-air columbarium is a series of perpendicular walls, 3 to 6 feet high, extending about 984 feet along the northwest crater rim adjacent to the existing columbarium. The walls will house prefabricated niches that could store up to four urns, double the capacity of niches in the old columbarium.

The cemetery, open to veterans, their spouses and eligible dependents, averages 40 requests for niche space a month.

Since the cemetery has no more space to bury remains, cremating has been the more popular choice, Castagnetti said.

The cemetery scheduled a briefing with local funeral directors this morning to explain the burial options for veterans during the interim.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM At the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific at Punchbowl, a new columbarium will have niches capable of storing up to four urns.

Castagnetti said families will have three options to inter the remains of loved ones:

>> Keep the remains at home until a niche is available and a full service can be scheduled, then:

>> Have a committal service with military honors conducted immediately, then either bring the urn home or to a funeral home for safekeeping until interment at the new columbarium;

>> Or choose to inter the remains immediately elsewhere; the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery at Kaneohe has adequate space available.

Miles Okamura, operations manager of the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, said 370 niches are left, and an unlimited number of plots are available to eligible veterans, their spouses and eligible dependents. It averages 40 to 50 requests for niches a year.

"If they come rushing at us, we're going to run out fast, too," Okamura said.

The Kaneohe veterans cemetery has more stringent requirements than the Punchbowl cemetery. The veteran must be either born in Hawaii, entered and released from the military in Hawaii or a Hawaii resident for two consecutive years.

Some funeral directors said they do not have much space available to store urns, and were reluctant to comment yesterday before hearing more details.

"Most families don't have a problem taking home the urns," said Charles Wilson, manager of Mililani Mortuary. "If those families aren't comfortable taking the urn home, I'm sure we could help in that way."

The columbarium contract was to have been awarded by last summer, but negotiations broke down after the selected contractor's original bid exceeded the government's $1.5 million estimate.

The contract will be awarded in the next two weeks, and construction should begin March 1, Castagnetti said. The final contract amount has not yet been disclosed, he said.