Belfast will soon be installing at its main cemetery an outdoor, above-ground monument that can hold urns containing cremated remains.
The monument at Grove Cemetery, known as a columbarium, will have 48 niches, or designated spaces that can each hold two urns. Eventually, once it reaches capacity, the city plans to install another columbarium after that.
“There’s space for at least five more,” Belfast Cemetery Superintendent Leigh Wilcox said.
There are several other columbariums around the state, including at Hope Cemetery in Bangor, according to Wilcox. The city of Belfast has seven cemeteries total.
The installation of Belfast’s columbarium is a response to a growing preference for people to be cremated rather than receive a full burial after they die, Wilcox said. He attributed that shifting demand primarily to how expensive full burials can be.
Belfast charges $150 for the use of a crematorium it acquired in 2016, according to fees listed on its website. By contrast, an individual full burial with additions such as headstone, vault, casket, land lot, and digging service, can cost anywhere from $2,000 to more than $10,000.
“I think the reason people still do the full burials is [because] religiously, they can’t be cremated. Everybody else, I think, is choosing [cremation] because it’s cheaper,” Wilcox said.
The initial cost to use one niche space in the columbarium will be $2,500, including an engraving and the opening and closing of the space, according to information recently presented to the City Council. Councilors unanimously approved new rules for the columbarium last week.
Construction of the monument is going smoothly, with a cement pad already constructed, said Wilcox. The structure itself will soon be delivered and is scheduled for installation on Thursday morning.
