Death of a Cemetery

If this cemrtary is not a cornerstone of our community legacy, and worthy of continued care and restoration, then just what is?

Paul

Here's an article from 2005 on this subject:

Middletown: City plans to renovate Pioneer Cemetery

What started as a small research project in 2003 will eventually become a complete renovation of Middletown’s oldest cemetery.

But first, City Council must declare the century-old, 7,000-plot Middletown Pioneer Cemetery as a historical landmark, which will help to secure funding in the future and honor those buried there. The 11-acre site located at Richmond Street and First Avenue is the final resting place to many of the city’s founding fathers, including those with the last name Doty, Vail, Sutphin and Tytus.

Council is expected to give the first of two readings today at its 5:30 p.m. meeting of an ordinance that would declare the cemetery a historical district.

“It really started as a little pet project, and three years later, it’s taken on a life of its own,” said Vivian Moon, a Middletown Historical Society board member and the woman spearheading the cemetery renovation.

Moon received a digital camera a few years ago from her daughter, which she used to document each of the tombstones at Middletown Pioneer Cemetery. At the time, vandals had ransacked several of the tombstones and, “It just appalled me that people would do something like that,” Moon said. So she got to work.

Without money from the city, which still owns the land, significant change was unlikely. However, Moon and several volunteers sought funding through the Middletown Community Foundation, the local historical society and other federal grants.

“How we care for our forefathers is how we show respect for the history of this city,” Moon said. “I was disappointed in the condition that I found (the cemetery) in. That’s what fired my furnace.”

This past summer, Moon and others began the first of three phases that will eventually give the cemetery a whole new look. They created flower beds, planted more than 30 trees and purchased a sign. More than $13,000 has been donated from the Middletown Community Foundation, most of which went to buying the sign and lighting designed to deter would-be vandals, Moon said.

Moon and her revitalization group have received many donations from local garden stores including flowers, a rose garden, mulch and other supplies. More beautification efforts are expected to pick up again this spring.

In the meantime, Moon and members of the historical society are transcribing the original records, some of which date back to the 1820s. The next phase of the cemetery project includes a renovation of the Victorian vault, which was used to prepare bodies for burial in the 1870s. The final phase will replace the existing chain fence around the cemetery with a wrought iron fence like that seen at other historical sites in Middletown.

“It does recognize the work that our pioneer families have done to establish Middletown,” said local historian Sam Ashworth, who is also a member of the Council for Landmarks and Historical Districts. “By having it be a nice facility that’s well maintained, it honors their achievements in the city.”

The project, which is expected to be finished sometime in 2007, is important in a number of ways, Moon said. And the appreciation she and others have received for their efforts has been well worth the time spent.

“I’ve received a million dollars in hugs,” Moon said. “I want to return that cemetery to its original look, and I want to prepare it for the next 100 years. I want to make it a beautiful place again.”


Contact Dave Greber at (513) 705-2840, or e-mail him at dgreber@coxohio.com.

SWOhio75

Ohio Revised Code

759.09 Duties of director of public service

The director of public service shall take possession and charge, and have the entire management, control, and regulation of public burial grounds and cemeteries located in or belonging to the city, subject to its ordinances. The director may direct the laying of such grounds out into lots, avenues, walks, and paths, or other subdivisions, which lots shall be numbered and the avenues named. A plat thereof shall be made so as to exhibit a fair and distinct outline of the grounds, and such plat shall be kept in the office of the auditor of the city for the use of the public

The director shall direct all the improvements and embellishments of such grounds and lots, protect and preserve them, and, subject to the approval of the legislative authority of the city, appoint necessary superintendents, employees, and agents, and shall determine their term of office and the amount of their compensation.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

SAY IT 'AINT SO JUDY 

Thanks Truth Teller
I'm aware of the amount in the CDBG funds ...the city buzz words are now  "OUR PRIORITY LIST"...the problem for the past four years is I can't seem to get off the bottom of their list.

I seen in the Middletown Journal this morning  and I quote the Journal and the Mayor here

"For safety reasons, the mayor has asked Gilleland to look into the demolition or removal of the vault at the cemetery, which is on the verge of collapse. The vault is a building where unburied corpses were kept during the winter until the ground thawed."

For safety reasons huh? Is that what we call it now when  a city doesn't want to spend money to repair something "they" should have been taking care of all along?  I think if the city goes to destroy the vault we should all go down there and  surround it to stop them. You tell me what day they'll be coming Mrs. Moon and I will be there. 

WARNING

The City will demo the vault over my dead body!

 

 

Vet

Correct, Vet--howevere the city "leaders" are going to have to care now.