I’ve been driving past Old City Cemetery, where my father is buried, and seeing dandelions and weeds up to your knees. I called the city and they said, because of reductions in force and so on, they don’t have the personnel to take care of Old City Cemetery much. I can understand that, but the city’s other cemetery, Park Hill Cemetery, looks beautiful. I told them don’t be surprised if I mow the area myself out of respect for my father. Two days later, lo and behold, the cemetery was mowed — but it still doesn’t look good. If they’re supposed to be taking care of two cemeteries, why is this one being forgotten?
— Brenda McAllister, Vancouver
Brenda, we put your question to Vancouver public works spokeswoman Loretta Callahan: Is there some policy that says Park Hill, a working city cemetery, gets more TLC than the historic Old City one — where famous founders including Charles Slocum and Esther Short are buried? Not exactly, she said.
Park Hill is irrigated because it has “its own grandfathered water source,” Callahan said, and its many flat-in-ground stones makes it easy to mow. It’s mowed weekly, she said.
Whereas Old City Cemetery has far fewer interments and no separate water source — so watering the cemetery means the public pays a pretty penny. These days, the cemetery just isn’t irrigated. And since no irrigation means little or no growth — and since Old City is full of erect monument stones — the cemetery is only mowed “as needed,” Callahan said. (You pointed out the need, Brenda.) The rest of the year, Old City Cemetery is mowed every two weeks.
