DEDICATION OF HIGHLAND MEADOW CEMETERY TO TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 AT 10 AM AT THE HIGHLAND MEADOW CEMETERY
A new civic space has emerged in Belmont. The Town of Belmont’s new Highland Meadow Cemetery now enables residents to choose their hometown as a final place of rest for the first time in nearly two decades.
Belmont Cemetery, established in 1859, reached its capacity in 1988 and began turning away long-term residents needing to purchase lots for traditional interment. Shocked and disappointed residents were forced to bury their dead at private cemeteries scattered across the Boston landscape.
The Board of Cemetery Commissioners explored all possibilities in this town of four square miles, including converting a playground, even a former landfill to burial space. In 1996, the Town of Belmont began negotiating with McLean Hospital, the Town’s largest landholder, as McLean embarked on a master planning process for their 230-acre land parcel. Three years of negotiation, planning and design resulted in a multi-faceted development and preservation agreement between the entities that included a municipal cemetery.
Belmont’s new Highland Meadow Cemetery consists of 13.9 acres of land, four of which have been developed for immediate use. In an unusual agreement, the remaining 9.9 acres are held under a Conservation Restriction, requiring a majority vote of town meeting to release it for additional cemetery development phases.
Highland Meadow is not a traditional cemetery, but is designed as a pastoral landscape dedicated to remembering. There are no upright headstones, only flat markers. It is bordered by more than a hundred acres of open space, though no fencing separates the uses. Joggers and birdwatchers drift past as family members seek solace. The master plan design of the cemetery by Halvorson Design Partnership received an award of merit from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects for its innovation and recollection of its historic farm references.
Belmont residents have already purchased nearly $1.5 Million in burial lots since March of 2006 and continue to do so weekly. Lots range from $4,000 to $8.000 for casket interment and from $1,300 to $2,600 for cremation interment.
On Saturday, October 20th at 10 a.m. Highland Meadow will hold a dedication and ceremonial opening of the gates, though burial activities began in July for those in need. The public is invited.
Highland Meadow Cemetery is located at 700 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA 02478. For more information, please contact Belmont Cemetery Commission at 617-489-8287, Chairman Ellen O’Brien Cushman at 617-484-4817, jpc01@aol.com or HighlandMeadowCemetery@town.belmont.ma.us
Members of the Board of Cemetery Commissioners:
Ellen O’Brien Cushman, Chairman
Alexander E. Corbett, III
Charles R. Johnson
