A new sub-committee is taking steps to ensure that the historic cemetery on Limbert Mountain will be maintained and preserved for years to come.
In January of 2016 the District of Kent’s Parks & Recreation Committee established a sub-committee to create a conservation plan for Agassiz’s historic cemetery, known locally as the “Old Cemetery.”
The historic site was created soon after the District of Kent’s incorporation in 1895, and now, the sub-committee is looking to have the cemetery’s landscaping maintained, its headstones and monuments preserved or restored, its pathways and steps upgraded and signage and historical interpretation enhanced.
The plan will address short term and long range issues and concerns, and recommendations for Mayor John Van Laerhoven and Council members.
The sub-committee consists of five community members, Lorne Fisher, Linda Shephard, Gerald Grappin, Valerie Edmondson and chair Bev Kennedy.
The work of committee members is to develop a Conservation Plan for the historic “Old Cemetery” and to oversee the Plan’s elements. These elements include research and documentation, addition of new amenities, public education and programming.
The group will also provide leadership for the project and demonstrate best practices in historic cemetery conservation.
Committee members will join other volunteers from the community to undertake the physical work of cleaning and restoring the headstones and monuments.
Following best practices in historic cemetery conservation methodology is very important. Recently, the committee hosted a cemetery conservation workshop with guest speaker Wilf Bruch from the Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria.
Twenty-one community members and District Staff attended the workshop which showcased a hands-on working session at the historic cemetery.
Searching for descendants
Group members are also working on contacting living descendants of people interred in the Old Cemetery to seek their comments as the Sub-Committee moves forward through the conservation plan.
For more information, or for those who are a descendant or family member of someone interred in the Old Cemetery, contact Bev Kennedy at 604-796-2459.