Oakwood Cemetery Board Votes To Remove Preacher’s Stand
Oakwood Cemetery Board Votes To Remove Preacher’s Stand
Posted
Jackie Gorski-
Oakwood Cemetery Board Votes To Remove Preacher’s StandOakwood Cemetery Board of Regents voted Thursday to remove the Preacher’s Stand.
During October’s meeting, sexton Hal Heagy asked for input from the Board on whether he should invest money to fix up the Preacher’s Stand or take it down. He said things are starting to fall off the building and he has to put money into fixing it or have it taken down.
The Preacher’s Stand is a pavilion-like structure with auditorium-like seating behind the cemetery’s office.
Thursday, Heagy said he has only had two people talk to him about the Preacher’s Stand since October. One person said it has been an icon for the cemetery forever and the other person didn’t have a problem with the stand’s removal.
Heagy said, initially, if the Board decided to keep the Preacher’s Stand, he wants to put some money into it, fixing some things next year, which are all cosmetic. There is nothing wrong with the structure. Heagy estimated the cost at $6,000 on the high end.
Heagy said the Preacher’s Stand sits behind the cemetery office and used to be used once a year. He said he thought of taking it down as a cost effective thing, but if the Board decided to keep the Preacher’s Stand, then the cemetery can keep it up.
Before the vote, Board member Arthur Brown suggested putting a survey up on the city’s website to get more feedback.
Initially, Board member Chris Plack motioned to table the discussion. However, Plack then motioned to take the Preacher’s Stand down.
Plack said if the options are to take the structure down or to put $6,000 into a structure that doesn’t really get used, he doesn’t love put $6,000 into the structure, as there’s other ways to use the money. Plack said he doesn’t believe putting a survey on the city website would get much more traction than the issue has already gotten.
Heagy said, for clarification, the Preacher’s Stand will not be “going down tomorrow.” He said he wants to build a cold storage unit before taking down the Preacher’s Stand and there are some relics and stones under the Preacher’s Stand and he wants a place to put those items.
In other business, Plack was presented a service plaque. He served on the Board for two years. Heagy said Plack will not be on the Board next year and will be moving on to other things.
The Board also learned that at the end of 2021, reductions were asked for. The cemetery was able to reduce its 2021 budget by $49,000. The cemetery was able to reduce its 2022 budget by $47,818 for a total budget of $714,167.
