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As a valued friend of Elmwood Cemetery,
you have been part of our successful efforts
to restore the Chapel interior and the Administrative
building. We are grateful for your past
support and hope that you will continue
to include Elmwood in your charitable choices.
For our 161st year, the Foundation Board
of Directors has chosen several projects that will further preserve
the history of Elmwood Cemetery and the
memory of those interred.
Click here to see some of our Foundation Projects.
Please note that your entire contribution
will be allocated to the project of your
choice. The Historic Elmwood Foundation
is a 501(c)(3) organization and your donation
may be tax deductible. I hope you will consider
our request. All contributors will be acknowledged
on our website and in our newsletter. Thank you for your consideration.
Please feel free to contact us if you have
any questions.
Restoration of Elmwood Cemetery
Restoring Elmwood Cemetery with careful management and ambitious vision
With the turn of this century, the Trustees of Elmwood Cemetery determined the entire infrastructure of the Cemetery needed to be restored and made manageable for the long term. The initial step was the completion of a physical master plan for the entire Cemetery.
The first major project was the restoration of the Gatehouse. This project retained the historic structure and image while creating a state-of-the-art Administrative Center with a quality customer service environment, and a secure record retention facility.
To assist in the Cemetery’s restoration and, as an outreach vehicle to make Elmwood a community destination, the Trustees formed the Historic Elmwood Foundation in 2005. This entity, a 501(c)(3) corporation, complements the not-for-profit cemetery corporation.
Through the Foundation, the Historic Elmwood Chapel has been preserved and restored. Some of the initial steps to make Elmwood more beautiful include annual and perennial plantings, tree reforestation, monument restoration, benches for visitors, and a transportation vehicle for the disabled.
With Cemetery funds, the Trustees updated and repaired the Cemetery’s Maintenance Center, improved signage and implemented the initial phase of the roadway reconstruction. In its permanent road system, Elmwood has just over five miles of roadway. The total roadway project is a $1.2 million capital improvement, of which the initial phase consumed the first $180,000 of this cost and was completed in 2007. In addition to the increased safety inherent with new roads, project completion, which also includes adding curbs, will enable better maintenance of the grass and roads and help prevent water and soil runoff. Section and lawn renovations can begin once the roads are completed. These significant steps complement our other projects.
The lawn renovations tie into the pond restoration. “Bloody Run Creek”, so named following the battle between the British and Chief Pontiac in 1763, feeds our pond as do the runoff and storm sewers in the Cemetery. We hope to dredge the pond, increasing its capacity and enabling it to be a source of partial irrigation for the Cemetery grounds. In addition, we will enhance the pond with a sculpture, fountain, and flowers.
We received grants for two small reforestation projects and plan to apply for others. We are pursuing grant opportunities for audio tours including maps and signage, tree identification and signage, Chapel tuck-pointing and repair and restoration of important monuments on our grounds. Administratively, we want to continue our records automation program and the imaging to preserve historic files and family profiles.
All of these projects need to be accomplished while our investment advisors strive to grow our Endowment Fund to twice its current principal amount over the next decade. With careful management of our operating income and expenses and with the help of the Friends of Elmwood, this ambitious vision can be fully implemented before 2018.
Please support our effort to restore the Elmwood Cemetery. Join the Historic Elmwood Foundation.
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Terry
Book,
President –
Historic Elmwood Foundation
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Joan
Frear Capuano, Executive Director
– Historic Elmwood Foundation
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