Cemetery Work
A memorial atop a grave in Kodiak City Cemetery proclaims: “Where gardens grow, God walks.” Loggers have cut down a number of trees that formerly shrouded the cemetery in shade. City officials say the work is intended to open more space within the cemetery. (AP Photo/Kodiak Daily Mirror, James Brooks)
Cemetery Work
An ax sticks out of a stump next to a can of gasoline and a bottle of oil Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 at the Kodiak City Cemetery. Contractors have cleared the cemetery of a stand of trees as part of a plan to clean up the cemetery, city officials said. (AP Photo/Kodiak Daily Mirror, James Brooks)
Posted: Sunday, October 20, 2013 12:30 pm
newsminer.com
KODIAK, Alaska — On a grave decorated with flowers and a single pink flamingo, there was a small plaque: “Where gardens grow, God walks.”
Until Monday, that grave and plaque were shaded by towering green spruce trees. No more.
Tree-cutters have brought down most of the trees that dominated the northern half of the Kodiak City Cemetery, an effort that comes as the city of Kodiak attempts to open more space for graves on Hospital Hill.
“It may look like an expansion, but it’s really not,” said city manager Aimee Kniaziowski.
Tree cutting for the new nursing home next to the cemetery exposed some trees vulnerable to blow-down, she said. In addition, the city wanted to use the opportunity to remove obstacles from within the cemetery.
“It’ll allow us to increase the density,” city parks and recreation director Charlie Powers said.
The city places cemetery maintenance under the aegis of the parks and recreation department, which is supervising the work and will use its own staff to remove stumps.
Powers could not provide an exact estimate of how close to capacity the cemetery is, but he said a rough guess is about 60 percent.
Eventually, Kniaziowski said, the city will begin to start planning a new cemetery, something that will be a challenge given the city’s lack of open space and lack of topsoil.
Powers said tree-cutting should be complete within a week, and parks crews will remove stumps throughout the winter.
Kniaziowski and Powers said there are no plans to install screening landscaping between the cemetery and the nursing home, which is likely to house the terminally ill.
“Nobody had any potential issues with it,” Kniaziowski said. “They didn’t express any concerns.”
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Information from: Kodiak (Alaska) Daily Mirror, http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com
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