Cemetery board holds first meeting in over a year

The Wrangell Cemetery Board met for the first time in over a year on Feb. 1 and discussed the possibility of opening a new cemetery.

Wrangell currently has two cemeteries, the Wrangell Memorial Cemetery and Sunset Gardens. However, soon there will be no more plots available, and the Cemetery Board wants to find a space that could serve the town for the next 100 years.

According to the City and Borough Wrangell, there are 31 grave plots left at Sunset Gardens Cemetery and nine plots at the Memorial Cemetery.

Those remaining plots will likely be taken in the next three to five years, said Cemetery Board Vice Chair Jim Nelson.

One possible location for the new cemetery discussed at the meeting is what is being called the “Shoemaker Bay Site.” The city-owned land is located across from Shoemaker Bay, about four and a half miles south of town between the Thomas Bay switch yard and Rainbow Falls.

“That [site] has the greatest potential at this time,” Cemetery Board Secretary Kay Larson told the Sentinel Friday.

It also offers “acres and acres of property,” and can serve Wrangell’s needs for the long-term, said Cemetery Board Chair Beth Comstock.

However, the site includes a section of land where waste was once dumped, and cannot be dug up should a cemetery be created at the location.

At its meeting last week, the Cemetery Board discussed that section of land and thought it could be used as a meditation or contemplation area with a gazebo or pavilion, instead of for burial plots.

Nelson said he welcomes community involvement on the creation of another cemetery.

“If anybody has some input, please let us know,” he said.