Albany cemeteries may see $1 million in repairs

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Albany’s Riverside Cemetery may see more than $1 million in repairs and renovations.

The cemetery suffered years of damage after the floods of 1994, the January 2017 storms and again during Hurricane Michael.

People visiting their loved ones’ resting place told city leaders that at times, the dirt roads were flooded, keeping them from being able to reach the graves.

They said some headstones are cracked and damaged and haven’t been repaired yet.

City commissioners are setting aside a little more than $1 million in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget to make cemetery repairs.

“When you lose a loved one, ultimately all what’s out here is their grave, you know, but it’s a place of closure. When you come out here and you see your loved ones, you don’t want to fall in a pothole, you don’t want to see all of this that’s going on, you don’t want to see a headstone propped up against a tree,” said City Commissioner BJ Fletcher.

Fletcher said the project is a part of new initiatives focused on enhancing city cemeteries.

This includes hiring contractors to do the work.

Fletcher said you’ll see improvements like paving the main street and adding crushed asphalt to the rest of the areas. This is to help prevent future flooding.

“Somewhere in our lifetime, we’re going to run across having to go to a cemetery and when we go to it, already the situation is horrible in your life that you’ve lost a loved one. Let’s at least make the people proud of where they’re placing their loved one,” said Fletcher.

Fletcher said the goal is to not only beautify the city, but to improve your loved one’s final resting place.

The project can start after the 2020 fiscal year budget is approved at the city commission meeting next Tuesday.

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