City Extends Cemetery by Adding Columbarium

Oxford moves forward with columbarium. Construction will begin in Oxford Memorial Cemetery after approval of Oxford Historic Preservation Commission.

The Oxford Board of Alderman recently approved an 800-niche columbarium to be built in Oxford Memorial Cemetery. The columbarium will cost $550,000. The funding will come from a $5.5 million bond the city took out in 2012.

Each of the 800 niches in the columbarium will sell for $1,500 and will be large enough to hold two urns. The city has not done research to ensure that this many niches are necessary in the cemetery, however, Mayor Pat Patterson said a local church recently built their own private columbarium and that all spaces were already sold out.

The Board of Alderman hope that the columbarium will benefit Oxford Memorial Cemetery in multiple ways, primarily by providing families with the option to keep their loved ones in the same cemetery when all of the grave sites become occupied. The board also plans for the funds that come from selling the niches to go toward maintaining the cemetery.

City Engineer Bart Robinson presented a blueprint of the structure at a work session last week. Robinson reassured citizens who may be concerned that the construction will be done very close to a few graves. "They will not be disturbed," he said.

With the Board of Alderman on board, Robinson can almost begin advertising for bids. The project can not begin until it receives approval from the Oxford Historic Preservation Commission, who will review it during its May meeting.