The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided to move the construction of a new columbarium into the interior of Denver’s historic Fort Logan National Cemetery, the agency confirmed on Friday.

Nearby residents of the cemetery had pushed back on the department’s original plan to build the columbarium walls right behind their homes, saying they weren’t properly notified about the project and many learned about it only after the work had already begun.

“The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will relocate the planned columbarium court and wall to a location within the interior of Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado, in response to concerns from the community over its location,” a VA spokesperson told The Denver Gazette in an email on Friday.

The spokesperson said the department halted construction located along the cemetery’s southern boundary, where there are approximately 20 homes. At a December town hall meeting, the residents urged the federal agency to halt the construction and consider alternative spots within the cemetery.

“This decision aligns with VA’s duty to provide Veterans a solemn and dignified burial while acknowledging stakeholder feedback,” the spokesperson said, adding the agency will provide additional relocation details in coming weeks.

The cemetery had begun the groundwork to construct the 40-foot long, 10-foot high columbarium walls. In addition to underground burial options, the project aims to provide enough space at least 2065.

Fort Logan National Cemetery, which is located southeast of Hampden Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, has 22,000 columbarium compartments.

Residents argued the department could have explored other places within the cemetery to build them. The residents emphasized they support building more burial options, noting some of them would somebody be buried at the cemetery and they have relatives already buried there now.   

“The residents next to the cemetery really did their homework on this,” Councilmember Kevin Flynn, who represents the area, told The Denver Gazette on Friday. “They chose to live next to Fort Logan and they have a deep reverence for it. I am so grateful that the VA decided to listen to them and make everything work better for all.”