Long-time Covington residents Marshall and MaryAnn Slagle have donated $10,000 to the Friends of Linden Grove for construction of the new entryway on West 13th Street to Historic Linden Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, the largest green space within Covington’s urban core.
The gift brings to $40,000 raised for the project which is expected to begin mid year and be completed by mid-2016.
Marshall Slagle served as Associate Director of the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission for nearly 40 years and is currently a planning and zoning consultant. He also as President of the Friends of Linden Grove, Inc.
In making the gift, Marshall said, “Over the years, I have spoken to so many people who wanted to visit the Cemetery and simply couldn’t figure out how to get in. There are thousands of Northern Kentuckians who don’t even know about Linden Grove and have never visited this special place. Making this new entryway a reality is a game changer for the Cemetery. This important project will have a very visible and lasting impact on the Cemetery and its surrounding neighborhood for generations to come.”
This donation adds to the $30,000 already raised for this project ($15,000 provided by the Cemetery’s Board of Overseers; $5,000 raised by the Friends of Linden Grove; and a $10,000 grant from the Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation).
Linden Grove Cemetery was originally consecrated in 1843. The Cemetery was placed in receivership by the Kenton County Circuit Court in 1948. Since the adoption of the 1998 Inter-local Agreement between the City of Covington and the Kenton County Fiscal Court, the Cemetery has been managed by a Board of Overseers. In 2001, the Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
The Friends of Linden Grove was formed in May 2007, as a non-profit organization to foster creation of a long-range development plan for the Cemetery, to promote awareness of the environmental, historical and cultural value of the Cemetery.