Association officials say it's the first cemetery to be developed in Oakland County in almost 25 years. Another cemetery is set to be built on a 544-acre site in Holly, MI by the federal Department of Veteran's Affairs, servingmostly veteran burials, but it won't likely open until 2004.
It's the fifth cemetery for the association, which owns Mt. Elliott and Mt. Olivet Cemeteries in Detroit, Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township and All Saints Cemetery in Waterford. Both Mt. Elliott and Olivet cemeteries were built in the 1800s.
Pat Farrell, the general manager and chief operating officer of the association, says the area was a good location for a new burial ground.
"We purchased the site in 1993. When we were looking at it, we thought the development growth was following a northward pattern. This cemetery will be in an excellent location to service the communities," Farrell tells GlobeSt.com.
He adds the $27 million was spent on development of the land, administrativeoffice buildings, a service building and a two-story mausoleum. The association plans on building more mausoleums on the site.
There will be 88,000 plots available, about 1,100 per acre. Each will sell for about $1,000, with the money going for the upkeep of the property and to build more cemeteries in the future, Farrell says.
The association had tried to build on 88 acres in Troy, on Rochester Road near South Boulevard, but lost a lawsuit in 1999. The city didn't allow the cemetery to rezone residential property for a cemetery, and the association tried to argue that the city was discriminating against Catholics for not allowing enough religious burial sites.
That property had too many problems with wetlands anyway, Farrell notes. Only about 60 acres of the Troy property could have been used.
Township officials say they're happy with Guardian, or happier that developers sold their shares of the farmland instead of building homes or offices. The township, faced with a glut of growth approaching from the south, is known for trying to conserve open spaces.
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