Framingham Edgell Grove Cemetery Trustees Now Oversee All City Cemeteries

Press release from the City of Framingham:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 01/22/24

For further information, contact:

Susan Scully Petroni

City of Framingham Public Information Officer

spetroni@framinghamma.gov

508-782-8629

FRAMINGHAM – The Framingham City Charter decreed that the elected Trustees of the Edgell Grove Cemetery were to be responsible for all municipal cemeteries in the City of Framingham. Thus, to make this happen, the Sisitsky administration created the Department of Cemeteries in July 2023.

The 5 elected Trustees work with the cemetery superintendent to ensure the same care is given to the Old South Cemetery, Church Hill Cemetery, and Edwards Cemetery as is given to the Edgell Grove Cemetery.

To have equality across the cemeteries, the same rules and pricing will apply to all four municipal cemeteries. All questions regarding plots and/or interments should be directed to the Department of Cemetery office.

Since July 2023, the Department of Cemeteries has achieved the following:

• Successfully transitioned the responsibility of Old South, Church Hill (aka Old Burying Ground or Main Street), and Edwards from Parks & Recreation.
• Provided content for the Cemeteries Department pages on the City website at Cemeteries Department | City of Framingham, MA Official Website (framinghamma.gov) Each cemetery was given its page where the location and a short history of the cemetery can be found.
• With the conclusion of the Fiscal Year 2023 grass-cutting contract, for all cemeteries other than Edgell Grove, a new contract was negotiated with a landscaper.
• Finishing the purchase of software whose features include the modernization of the records and the ability to provide a lookup of grave locations on a visitor’s phone. (Edgell Grove only)
• Applied for a grant from a local bank and received $10,000 to help pay for the repair of the roofs of the Chapel and the Mausoleum. Work on the roofs should start soon.
• Applied for money from Framingham’s Community Preservation Act (CPA) and was awarded $225,000 to help pay for the replacement of the Tomb House roof, gutters, and downspouts. This work should be starting as well, and it is the first step towards preserving and restoring the Tomb House, a building built in 1885 and located within the National Register of Historic Districts on the grounds of Edgell Grove Cemetery.
• Applied for and received $5,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help pay the architect’s fees for this restoration work.
• Continued the Memorial Tree program that was started after several dead trees were cut down at Edgell Grove. This allows people to help us replenish these trees with young and healthy ones.
• Decided to revert to the original name for the cemetery on Main Street, which was “Church Hill Cemetery”.

Future projects include adding signage and other improvements to Edwards, Church Hill, and Old South; extending the software database to include all municipal cemeteries; exploring avenues to extend the services provided, such as investigating land use of undeveloped land, purchasing new land, and adding columbaria for cremains.

The Edgell Grove Trustees are elected officials of the City of Framingham who serve four-year terms.

Edgell Grove Cemetery is on Grove Street, near Framingham Centre. Edwards Cemetery is on Edwards Street in Saxonville. Old South is on Winthrop Street in Corburnville. Church Hill is on Main Street, near Framingham Centre.

All queries should be directed to the Department of Cemeteries office at 53 Grove Street, or call 508-532-5674.

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150 Concord StreetFramingham, MA 01702Ph: 508-532-5411

Tuesday8:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Friday8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Additional Hours

This press release was produced by the City of Framingham. The views expressed here are the author’s own.