Oak HIll Cemetery Chapel

People in the city of Janesville, Wisconsin came together Saturday to celebrate the re-opening of the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel.  You can read and see some photos of the project from this article in the Janesville Gazette Extra.

What is extraordinary to me about this effort is that the cemetery fit the pattern of what is happening with small, especially rural cemeteries across the country.  Many association governed cemeteries, because of a lot of concurrent happenings such as less earth burial, lower endowment earnings, and rising costs of operations, are asking government entities to take them over.  Such was the case when the City of Janesville took over Oak Hill Cemetery in 2008.

As a matter of fact, the cemetery chapel, built in 1899 – long unused except for storage – was scheduled to be razed in 2013.  However, a group calling itself “Friends of the Oak Hill Chapel” asked for a reprieve.  Raising $40,000 on their own and getting at least $100,000 from the city, the chapel has been upgraded beyond its original self.  According to the city’s director of parks and recreation the restoration took 64,000 volunteer man hours which would equate to about $1.5 million in paid labor.

Even an organ, built in the 1890’s that no living person can ever remember being played, was brought back to life and played for the gathering on Saturday.

Funeral Director Daily take:  I would suggest taking a look at the link provided in this article so that you can see the photos and get an idea of what was saved.  The value of a chapel like this at a small town cemetery is something that cannot be taken for granted.

The chapel is expected to serve many purposes now.  It can be used for funerals, weddings, receptions, but at its finest shows how a community can bind together to save an asset for that community.

[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]