SHELBY — The community mausoleum at Shelby’s Oakland Cemetery is in disarray.
That’s what John Ensman, the city’s director of utilities and vice president of the Oakland Cemetery Association Board of Trustees, said back in February.
Ensman spoke to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission on February 14 to explain the current state of the mausoleum. He said deterioration of the building is progressively getting worse over the years.
On Tuesday, the Oakland Cemetery Association announced in a press release a fundraising campaign aimed at raising $300,000 to replace the aging structure. The association met May 7 to set the six-figure goal.
“The Cemetery Association is looking to use the raised funds primarily to construct a new mausoleum to replace the severely deteriorating structure that was originally built in 1907,” the release said. “There are approximately 200 bodies entombed inside the current structure.”
Work set to begin in June
The Oakland Cemetery Association would like to raise enough funds to replace the current mausoleum with a design similar to the historical nature of the original structure.
“If the fundraising drive falls short, a secondary plan is in place to develop the site with a decorative structure to cover the mausoleum to help preserve the historic building,” the release said.
The building’s exterior is where the most immediate action is needed. Tarps are currently secured to each of the structure’s four towers — but the temporary covers have also been impacted by weather.
Ensman said in February the towers are crumbling, largely due to water deterioration, and are to the point they must come down.
“A local citizen, Joe Lykins, is set to begin the delicate dismantling of the outer encasing
of the mausoleum starting in June,” the release said. “The crypts will be left in place while a new structure is built around the existing crypts.”
Chuck Kilgore, accountant for the Oakland Cemetery Association, located at 47 E. Main St. in Shelby, will be the point of collection for all donations, according to the release.
Anyone making a donation by check is asked to make it payable to the Oakland Cemetery and to include a note on the memo line for donations to go to the “Mausoleum Fundraiser.”
“If there are any funds left over after the reconstruction of the mausoleum, the funds will be used for maintenance expenses such as the paving of asphalt and upkeep of the grounds,” the release said.
