It took dozens of people to unfurl a massive 30-by-60-foot American flag atop a hill in Gypsum Canyon, where elected officials and many veterans came together Wednesday for a ceremonial groundbreaking on the site that has gained broad support to be the location of a proposed veterans cemetery.

Framed by layers of surrounding mountain ridges, the roughly 260-acre canyon site in Anaheim Hills, which sits just off the 91 Freeway and 241 Toll Road, has been endorsed by every city in the county as the spot where a veterans burial ground could go.

The towering flag, which will be placed in the ground where construction would take place, will be visible from several miles away, said Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner.

Speaking to a group eager to get the project built, Wagner said it’s time for the long-debated project to move forward.

“We’ve got the site. We’ve got the momentum,” he said. “Let’s get that flagpole built. Let’s get this entire project developed. And let’s start remembering the veterans the way they need to be remembered.”

For years, discussions have centered on a state-backed veterans cemetery in Irvine, but the process has been marred by disagreements between officials and residents about the exact location. Irvine Councilman Larry Agran, who has long championed a site on the northern edge of the Great Park, held a separate news conference Wednesday to pitch his idea for a veterans memorial park there.

That location, known as ARDA, is one of three within Irvine where the veterans cemetery has been proposed. In June, when Irvine officials appeared to be at a standstill on deciding which of two sites they wanted for the burial place, the county offered Gypsum Canyon, where a civilian cemetery was already planned.

At the county site Wednesday morning, Nick Berardino, president of The Veterans Alliance of Orange County, or VALOR, said new momentum on the project was thanks to the community “all coming together” and “joining hands.”

“We ain’t coming off of this hill,” he said. “We’re here. We’re gonna be here. You’re not gonna do anything to get us off.”

Dale Lelli, a Marine Corps veteran who attended the flag groundbreaking, said he wanted to celebrate new momentum for a cemetery project and lodge a “protest” against Irvine for not getting one built there.

“Anaheim stepped up,” he said. “And we appreciate it.”

At Irvine City Hall, Agran said he wants to move forward on a veterans memorial park even without a cemetery, at this time, though he noted a burial place could be added later if the site at Gypsum Canyon doesn’t work out. He said a cemetery at the ARDA site is what Irvine residents want and “commanded,” having pushed the City Council to take up a measure in 2020 that zoned the land exclusively for a veterans cemetery and memorial park.

His proposal for a 125-acre park includes botanical and memorial gardens, a reflection pond, an aviation museum featuring elements from the former El Toro Marine air base, and a forest reserve.

Agran said he asked to have the park idea heard during a City Council meeting, but that request didn’t get a second.

In a memo Agran sent to city council members asking to formally consider his presentation, he wrote that “while the final state decision on the siting and construction of the veterans cemetery itself seems likely to be mired in studies and politics for the next couple of years, this does not preclude our going ahead with the promised veterans memorial park at the ARDA site.”

He said initial demolition and cleanup of the Great Park site was estimated at less than $20 million, and could be paid with development funds allocated for the park, with the hope that some or all would be reimbursed by state or federal money. An estimate by the state performed in June of the cost associated with cleanup, building demolition and removal of hazardous waste at the ARDA site came in around $38 million.

No cost estimate has been made public for the cemetery at the Gypsum Canyon site.

Also on Wednesday, state Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Anaheim, announced that he’ll change his bill regarding a veterans cemetery to allow the state Department of Veterans Affairs (known as CalVet) to study and potentially build on the Anaheim Hills property. This represents a key shift, as Umberg’s original bill, which didn’t reach the floor this year, specified that a state-run cemetery would be built in Irvine.

Umber’s office issued a press release Wednesday saying the amended bill is expected to be heard after state lawmakers reconvene in January.

That might not be the only legislative assist for the proposed Gypsum Canyon veterans cemetery. In September, Assemblyman Steven Choi said he planned to put forward a bill officially designating the Anaheim site and to seek $5 million in state funding to get the project going.

Reporter Alicia Robinson contributed to this story. 

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