KANE'OHE — Sunken graves, broken sprinklers and a cracked columbarium no longer haunt the Hawai'i State Veterans Cemetery, which is using a $751,000 state appropriation for upgrades.

In four months since receiving the money, crews have filled in graves that had settled — some as deep as a foot — and repaired sprinklers surrounding burial sites, said Edward Cruickshank, director of the state Office of Veterans Services. Polyguard liners that will hold caskets are available to help prevent some settling, and soon Memorial Plaza will be painted, Cruickshank said.

"About $430,000 was (budgeted) to take care of the hill in the back and fix the cracks on the columbarium," he said.

Settling of the soil from a hill behind the columbarium exerted pressure on it and caused it to crack, Cruickshank said. The project calls for slowly removing that pressure and repairing the cracks. "The cracks are small and there's no danger in it falling."

The rest of the money, to be distributed over two years, was to pay for operating costs and capital improvements, including $43,000 for topsoil, $56,250 for liners, $74,000 for road repairs and $31,200 for sprinklers, he said.

The state yesterday invited the press and media to see the progress at the cemetery that had fallen into disrepair over its 14-year existence. Of the 6,200 graves, as many as 150 had settled, affecting the alignment of the grave markers.

Dale Frederickson, who was tending to her mother's grave yesterday, said she sees some of the progress with new grass planted in a lower section of the cemetery but thinks more should be done. Frederickson, who has been going to the cemetery from Kapolei every week since her mother was buried there in May, said rains wash away dirt on the graves and create bare spots in the lawn, making the area muddy and difficult to walk through.

"Over here was just bare, so we had to plant our own grass," she said. "It is shameful because they are veterans."

Armando M. Ilagan said sprinklers were a big issue for him, and he's glad that they are working again because he travels from Waikele to water the grass on his wife's grave.

"I asked the guy, is this going to be a permanent thing or just today because there's a camera there and they are going to show it on TV," Ilagan said.

The cemetery sits in a bowl, has forests on one side and to the back, and is framed by the Ko'olau Range on the other side. The view from Memorial Plaza includes the 123-acre site and a sweeping mountain vista. Only 56 acres are used, and there's room for 75,000 graves, making it larger than the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Besides the crew of five on staff, the cemetery receives help from the inmates at the Women's Community Correctional Center in Kailua at least once a week and from U.S. Department of Defense personnel from Fort Ruger, said Herring Kalua Jr., general labor supervisor.

Kalua said he took the position in April but had been working at the site as one of the Fort Ruger groundskeepers. He said he recognized right away that there was a lot of work to be done.

"It's a challenge, but everybody took on that challenge and I think with that mentality we made a lot of improvements," he said.

Val Hee, who has two brothers buried at the cemetery, said he thought the groundskeepers were doing a good job and that settling was normal at all cemeteries.

"It's pretty well taken care of, this side," Hee said, referring to an upper level of the cemetery.

State Rep. Ken Ito said he can see the difference made by the appropriation, which was part of a multimillion-dollar military appreciation package passed by the Legislature this year. Besides the upgrades at the cemetery, the package includes tax credits for National Guardsmen sent overseas, and educational benefits.

"It's to show we support the military. We support the family of the military, the sacrifices," said Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe).

"I want this place to become a national shrine, some place to be proud of, a place of honor."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.