This is of particular concern to me, and our family, since our mother and grandparents are buried at Grandlawn.
When our mother died in 1998, the cemetery didn't look bad, but in the years since, and especially lately when I visited, I've noticed the deferred maintenance such as the collapsing fencing and stone posts along Telegraph and Grand River, the unlocked bathrooms and unmanned entrance building [[on a Saturday recently).
The bumpy potholed gravel roads, fallen trees, some rotting, the bridge over the river collapsing, the lightposts having their tops knocked off.
The entrance building which is a lovely English style structure has a roof which is literally peeling off, windows which need painting, crappy signage, etc.
Only the lawns looked relatively good on this last trip, and the vertical headstones had been clipped around.
Most distressing is the fact that anyone can walk in at night due to the many breaches of the iron fencing.
I have brought this up to the management, but I feel it has fallen on deaf ears.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe cemeteries pay property taxes, so aside from the maintenance, electricity & water for the entrance building and grave digging, are there many more expenses? They are still selling gravesites, and built a new columbarium, so there is some income coming in.
We will be moving the graves if something isn't done to better maintain this truly beautiful part of Redford/Detroit.
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