OLDS — The town is running out of columbarium niches, so two have been bought for the cemetery’s new section.
Community services director Doug Wagstaff made that announcement during a presentation to town council.
“All niche units in the old section are sold out and the one unit that is in the new section only has 16 niches left,” Wagstaff said.
He noted that from January through March, nine interments were undertaken and five niche sales were made. Six niches were engraved.
Wagstaff said two columbarium units were bought because interment in columbarium niches instead of conventional cemetery plots has become “quite a trend.”
“That is something we’re going to continue to see,” he said.
“The other thing is we saw a significant jump since three years ago when we bought the last niche and put it in the new cemetery,” Wagstaff said.
“The cost of this exact same unit has risen 30 per cent. So it’s like inventory, so we have now purchased two so they can be matching and we’ll have those placed in 2023.”
Wagstaff also said staff are also working with the Lions Club to on June 4 celebrate creation of a Lions Memorial Forest at the cemetery to honour deceased Lions Club members.
Wagstaff said creation of that forest was completed during COVID.
He said because of the pandemic “the Lions didn’t have a really good opportunity to celebrate that initiative,” hence the decision to undertake the celebration this year.
Work is underway to arrange that celebration at the gazebo in the cemetery.
