By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Work to rebuild the washed out historic wall at the Fulton Street Cemetery has begun with a gruesome task: the disinterment of 19 gravesites. The graves are next to an ancient stone wall that collapsed in 2005 and are in danger of being damaged during the wall's repair. The gravesites date from 1881 to 1942.
"We have to put in a temporary retaining wall that will hold back the dirt to prevent further collapse," says Tiiu Arrak, spokesperson for the city of Grand Rapids. "Holes are augered into the ground to hold the temporary wall, which will keep the rest of the cemetery from sliding down into the street when they're building the permanent wall."
Disinterment began July 20. Cemetery staff placed the remains in individual vaults and moved them to a temporary resting place in what is called the 'ice house building' at Oakhill Cemetery. The vaults will be returned to the original grave locations and buried upon completion of the new stone wall at Fulton Street Cemetery.
"This is taken very seriously," Arrak says. "They're being given the respect that they are due. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't have to do this."
The cemetery is the burial site of several Civil War generals and many of the city's first business and political leaders. Reconstruction of the wall began in May with the relocation of power poles and the removal of 20 trees. Twenty-nine trees of several varieties will be planted when the new wall is finished.
The city expects the project to cost $1.2 million.
Source: Tiiu Arrak, City of Grand Rapids
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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