I thought those of you subscribed to this group might be interested in an
absolutely unique cemetery preservation technique utilized by a shopping
mall developer in suburban Atlanta, GA way back in the 1960s.
I lived in a suburb of Atlanta for 13 years (1973-1986) before returning to
Southern Indiana. Every day on the way to work I drove past the old
Columbia Mall (now Avondale Mall) in Decatur, DeKalb County, GA. In the
parking lot of this shopping mall is an unusual, square stone structure
about 15 feet high and about 40 feet long on each of the four sides. There
is a single entrance into this "building", which is covered by a steel gate.
Before I left Atlanta in 1986, I learned that this was, in fact, a CEMETERY.
When I was in Atlanta this past weekend, I contacted the mall management and
they gave me permission to go inside what they refer to as "the mausoleum".
When you open the steel gate, there is a dedication plaque on the wall
inside the entrance. You make an immediate left-hand turn at the gate and
climb a set of concrete steps to the "roof" of the "building". On
the
"roof", 15 feet or so above the paved parking lot, are about THIRTEEN GRAVES.
When the CROWLEY family home was sold in the late 1960s, the developer went
to great expense and trouble to preserve the Crowley family cemetery. While
the parking lot area was deeply graded to the desired slope, the cemetery
plot was left intact and shored with concrete and a gray orchard stone wall.
The "roof" of the cemetery is paved with large stones and most of the
individual graves are covered with slightly raised concrete slabs. There are
two traditional headstones in one corner of the roof-top cemetery.
I thought you might be interested. Photos of this unusual cemetery can be
found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/crowleycem.html
A technique such as this could be useful in dealing with developers in your
area.
Lois Mauk
Jeffersonville, Indiana
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We need YOU on the Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration Project
e-mail discussion group. For details, visit:
http://www.citznet.com/~ssattert/inpcrp/
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Clark County, Indiana Cemeteries Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/index.html
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Cemetery: (n) A marble orchard not to be taken for granite.