Silver Lake Cemetery building structure to hold cremains

“It’s a great opportunity that will allow families the chance to decide on the resting place for their loved ones,” said Jim Grothman, president of the Silver Lake Cemetery Association, which maintains the site, and surveyor for Columbia County.

“And it gives them another option, which is important because there are probably the remnants of loved ones sitting in homes that family members would rather put in the columbarium to have a special place for them,” Grothman said.

Construction began Thursday on the first of about five possible columbaria. The two-sided monuments will have 50 niches on each side that will be able to hold the cremains of up to 200 people.

Each niche, which can hold the cremains of two people, will feature personalized plaques to commemorate deceased loved ones, and will cost about $2,500, Grothman said.

The structure is expected to be completed by early next summer, The city will give the association a donation of up to $99,194 to build the first columbarium, with funds coming from interest accrued through capital projects. Revenue from the sales of niches will go to the city, which annually donates about $40,000 from its operating budget to the association to subsidize the cemetery’s expenses.

City staff and representatives of the cemetery association estimate a columbarium would generate about $250,000 in revenue, as each niche will be sold for about $2,500. In addition to offsetting the city’s annual donation to the cemetery association, the project also will support the city’s general fund.

Along with being able to memorialize and commemorate a deceased loved one, Grothman said, the columbarium will offer people a cheaper alternative to full body internments, which are exponentially increasing in cost.

The concrete of the structure will be covered with a granite veneer, which Grothman said will be resemble the reddish granite from the Montello granite quarry that many of the tombstones at Silver Lake Cemetery are made of as a way to preserve the cemetery’s historic visual appeal.

Located at 400 Cemetery Road, Silver Lake Cemetery was built in 1849 and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the state.

“A big goal of our board was to respect the the original thought and effort that went into the cemetery, and we are trying to continue that tradition,” Grothman said.

In an attempt to create a more intimate experience visitors, Grothman said, the area surrounding the columbarium will feature benches for seating, as well as extra shrubbery and vegetation.

Additional columbaria are planned to be built when the initial monument approaches capacity. They will be configured in a circular pattern, in keeping with the curvature of the cemetery’s original and distinctive design, Grothman said.