COLUMBUS — Some final resting places will not be forever, due to the location of the graves.
The nearly 180-year-old Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus is relocating graves that sit on top of a storm sewer easement, according to our news partner, WBNS.
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Shana Edwards learned that some of her family members’ final resting places will be moved.
“Oh, it’s tragic. It’s like reliving it all over again,” said Edwards.
Of the 160,000 people that are buried in the cemetery, 20 graves lie on the easement, said Randy Rogers, Green Lawn Cemetery Association Executive Director.
The cemetery is in the process of moving the graves to new plots that are nearby.
When the storm sewers were put in, in the 1940s or 1950’s the location of the easement was out further than what they had originally thought, said Rogers.
The drainage project will not disrupt any graves, but the cemetery board is moving graves that are within the easement to avoid future issues.
“There’s not a problem today, but if they ever did have to dig that up, or if it ever collapsed, you know 100 years from now, then it would be a big problem, and if these spaces were our spaces, or these were our family members, we would want this changed, we would want this taken care of,” Rogers said.
The moving of the graves will have to be approved in court, but they plan to have the 20 to 30 graves moved by the end of March at the expense of the cemetery.
“To get everyone out of the easement, it’s about 20 people. But because some families have said, ‘Well, when mom died, we bought a space for her, and 10 years later, dad died, and we bought a space for him, they’re not side-by-side, and so if you’re going to move mom, can you move dad also so they’re together?’ So, we’re like, yeah, of course we can do that,” Rogers said.
Many families that are affected are understanding of the move, said Rogers, even though it might not be easy.
“When you’re talking about revisiting a deceased loved one and moving, it’s emotional,” Rogers said.
The cemetery has another project in the works to replace the chain link fence that borders Cooper Stadium, and to replace it with granite property line mausoleums.
Rogers said they plan to have the deal finalized by the end of the year.
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