Date of release: March 8, 2022
Parks and Recreation Department crews will begin a spring maintenance and cleaning audit on March 28. Families are asked to visit burial plots and remove unpermitted decorations.
With a focus on enhancing Oak Grove Cemetery’s maintenance, beauty, and public safety, the Parks & Recreation Department will begin its spring maintenance and cleaning audit on March 28. Each spring and fall, the Department closely reviews the city-owned cemetery located at 1613 Park Avenue to determine maintenance needs. This process includes the removal of decorations not permitted in the cemetery’s guidelines.
Families are asked to visit burial plots and remove any prohibited items of decoration before March 28. After that date and during each audit sweep, Parks & Recreation crews will remove and discard banned items.
Parks & Recreation Department Director Amie Clark said, “We encourage families to honor their loved ones with welcome items. Limiting the types of decorations is for the safety of staff and visitors and the prevention of damage to maintenance equipment. This also increases the efficiency in keeping the 50 acres of cemetery grounds maintained.”
The following forms of decoration are approved at burial plots:
- Fresh or artificial flowers in a cemetery-approved vase that is permanently mounted on the monument or memorial. Vases that are made of glass, porcelain, or plastic cannot be placed at a grave since they can be damaged during maintenance operations.
- Flowers in a hanging basket or a hanging solar lantern on an iron or steel, single hook shepherd’s hook that is 48 inches in length.
- Monument benches placed by a monument company and set as the headstone.
Items that are not permitted at burial plots include toys, ornaments, borders, plantings, ground covers (such as stones, gravel, mulch, etc.) candles, unsecured garden benches, or fragile items such as glass.
If a family or organization would like to provide maintenance on family plots, contact the Parks & Recreation Department at 270-444-8508 for coordination.
###
