DALTON, Mass. — The cemetery trustees are slowly working to make the Main Street Cemetery's chapel usable again.

 

The vacant limestone building was discussed at last Monday's meeting. The trustees hope to restore the structure that sits in the middle of the cemetery.

 

Edward "Bud" Hall, the town's Department of Public Works superintendent, said he recently spoke with Crosier Electric, which quoted $2,500 to install lighting, emergency lights, motion sensors for the lights, attic power, wiring, and the installation of a hanging light in the porte-cochère with a remote photocell.

 

Trustee John Bartel Jr. said the structure has been used for storage recently but they would like to use it as a columbarium, with niches to store and respectfully display cremation urns, and a crypt. 

 

The Gothic Revival vault and chapel was gifted to the town by the Crane family in 1907, one of a series of improvements the Cranes made to the 1788 cemetery in the early 19th century. It was used for many years as a mortuary chapel and the site of Memorial Day services, as well as to store bodies during the winter. 

 

Bartel said the trustees have been talking about using the building for years and that they are doing it slowly. They accepted the transaction and said the next step will be cleaning it out the building and painting, along with seeing about a lock company for the doors. In the long run, they plan to put in the niches and fix the crypt area.

 

The trustees have also received queries from former residents about being buried in the town cemetery. Bartel said the cemetery is only for those who reside in Dalton, but he hoped that once the columbarium is prepared, niches could be sold to past residents. 

 

Hall also mentioned the need for a shed now that the chapel will not be used for storage. He got a quote from a local business and will be reaching out to two others to bring bids to March's meeting.