BELFAST, Maine — Belfast’s Grove Cemetery is the city’s first to add a columbarium and meet the rising cremation demand in Maine.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, Maine has the second-highest rate of cremation in the nation. At 80.9 percent, the Pine Tree State is only second to Nevada.
However, the new 48-niche granite structure also provides a practical solution as well—space efficiency.
The less than 10-foot long, six-foot tall, and three-foot wide columbarium can fit up to 96 urns. Offering the new option will increase how long the limited remaining real estate at Grove Cemetery lasts, according to Superintendent Leigh Wilcox.
"We're running out of room," Wilcox said. "The columbarium takes, as you can see, little space."
The columbarium will also provide a more cost-effective option, the greatest reason Wilcox said people are turning away from casket burials.
"We used to do like 25-30 full casket burials a year. And now we do like 10," he said.
Wilcox said that altogether, a niche will run $2,500; less than half the estimated $5-6,000 of a casket burial.
Another reason is that people are living differently, Tamara Sinagra said, who is a funeral director at Riposta’s Funeral Home.
"We don't live where we used to live. People aren't necessarily born and raised and die in their same communities, so many people want their loved ones' remains to be able to travel with them," she said.
Wilcox said Grove Cemetery has space to expand its above-ground final resting places. A good thing given the columbarium built last year in Bangor’s Mount Hope Cemetery is filling quickly.
The new nine-building structure will accommodate over 500 niches, more than doubling the cemetery’s capacity.
However, given Maine’s gaining population and cremation’s popularity, Stephen Burrill, Mount Hope’s superintendent, says, “We hope it will last five years.”
Grove Cemetery’s 48 niches are now available for purchase. More information can be found online, but Wilcox recommends those interested visit him and the columbarium in person.
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