CPC Approves $75,000 For Old Burying Ground Restoration
The Community Preservation Commission has approved a request for $75,000 to restore the Old Burying Ground off Mill Road in Falmouth. It now goes to April 2022 Town Meeting for approval.
Historical Commission chairman Edward Haddad made a proposal last year to the select board to establish an ad hoc committee to coordinate restoration and preservation efforts at the Old Burying Ground in Falmouth. When initially brought to the attention of the town, Town Manager Julian M. Suso was not sure of the legality of the proposal, as there is a provision of Massachusetts General Law that prohibits the removal or otherwise unauthorized handling of private gravestones.
In order to bypass this legal barrier and establish a committee to do restoration, the town first had to vote in favor of community-sponsored repair of the gravestones at the Old Burying Ground, which officially passed at the November 15 Town Meeting. Now that the administrative formalities are taken care of, Mr. Haddad said there should be no further legal impediments to the restoration of the cemetery, but he also said he is not sure of the current state of the proposal as it stands with the town following the passing of the provision at Town Meeting.
Mr. Haddad went before the CPC on behalf of the historical commission on November 18, just three days after the provision passed, and made his formal proposal to the board. He requested $75,000 for a conditions assessment report of the cemetery, which would be a comprehensive inventory of the cemetery that catalogs who is buried there, materials used, dates, inscriptions, and state of the stones. The consultant would compile all of this information and then make a recommendation for treatment and restoration. The CPC approved Mr. Haddad’s request at the end of the meeting, which now puts the topic on the warrant for the April 2022 Town Meeting.
“This just is to document what’s there, what’s there today, what’s the condition of what’s there today, and what do we need to do to fix it,” Mr. Haddad said.
With an estimated 750 historic stones dating back as early as 1705, Mr. Haddad is working ardently to get restoration efforts off the ground. The Old Burying Ground itself has been part of Falmouth for more than three centuries and was even the site of the first two Congregational Church Meeting Houses before they were resited and it was dedicated as just a cemetery.
“The overall restoration of the Burying Ground itself should be looked at because this is really one of the most historic sites in Falmouth,” Mr. Haddad said. “The property has literally been in existence since 1705. You’ve got people buried in there from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, and then more modern ones like World War I and II. And there’s nothing done to it to maintain it, absolutely nothing. It really is a travesty… it’s a lost opportunity, is what it is.”