Staff report
Historic Linden Grove Cemetery is more than 22 acres of green space and history in the heart of Covington — and it will now get a long-waited new entrance, thanks to a $75,000 grant from the RC Durr Foundation, to be matched with a $25,000 commitment from the Friends of Linden Grove.
“The cemetery is the single largest green space in Covington,” says John Dietz, secretary of Friends of Linden Grove. “Historic Linden Grove Cemetery & Arboretum is in the heart of Covington and within easy walking distance of more than 45 percent of the City’s population. It has nearly two miles of walking trails, as well as hundreds of different species of trees and plants.”
Providing the site as a usable green space for passive recreational activities addresses the critical shortage of parks and green space in the urban core of Covington, says Deitz — and helps to improve the vitality and viability of the surrounding neighborhoods.
The new entrance will improve public access to the Cemetery and will help to transform Linden Grove into a premier urban green space.
The only entrance to the Cemetery is currently located on an alley set back off of the 1400 block of Holman Avenue, making access difficult and obscure.
The new, more visible entrance is now being constructed on West 13th Street, opposite the terminus of Lee Street. The new entryway is the single most important and most expensive capital improvement identified in the Cemetery’s 2009 Master Plan.
The estimated total cost for construction of the new entryway is nearly $175,000.
Of that total, approximately $75,000 is budgeted for completion of Phase 1 which includes the installation of water supply lines, electric power, stormwater.
Dick Murgatroyd, who was Kenton County Judge Executive when the restoration of the cemetery started said that unfortunately the county didn’t have sufficient funds to participate. “The board has done a wonderful job of making it happen. It is a treasure for NKY and Covington,” he said.
Established in 1843 as part of the Western Baptist Theological Institute, Linden Grove was incorporated on March 11, 1868, through the efforts of several local businessmen, including John Finnell and Amos Shinkle. As the final resting place for many of Covington’s founders, four Congressmen, a Civil War general, America’s veterans from every war since the War of 1812 and dozens of other famous and infamous people, Linden Grove is a microcosm of the City’s history.
The cemetery had fallen into disrepair and neglect and in 1948, the Kenton County Circuit Court ordered the Cemetery property placed into receivership. In 1998, the City of Covington and the Kenton County Fiscal executed an Inter-Local Agreement establishing a Board of Overseers to manage and operate the Cemetery. Funding for the cost of annual maintenance operations only is provided by the City of Covington and the Kenton County Fiscal Court.
The Cemetery was closed to new burials in 2008 because of unresolved drainage and fill issues affecting approximately seven acres of the site.
Over the past 15 years, the Cemetery Board has instituted good property management practices, addressed deferred maintenance issues, and adopted a Master Plan to prioritize large scale capital improvements.
This strategy, says its advocates, has had a transformative effect of growing public appreciation for Linden Grove and encouraging investment in property improvements in the surrounding neighborhoods. These efforts have increased public confidence that the public and private investment in Linden Grove has a lasting impact.
Friends of Linden Grove, Inc. is a nonprofit citizen’s advisory group that also serves as the cemetery’s development organization.
In June 2014, the Cemetery’s Board of Overseers committed $15,000 towards the construction of the new entryway. Mother of God Cemetery donated the wrought iron gates from their former entrance (valued at more than $5,000). Over subsequent months, the Friends secured several large grants and donations for the new entryway project: $10,000 from the Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation in Fort Mitchell; $14,000 from Marshall and MaryAnn Slagle of Covington; $15,000 from the Kenton County Fiscal Court; $15,000 from the City of Covington; $4,000 from the William Dally Foundation of Cincinnati; $5,000 from former Covington Mayor Chuck Scheper and Julie Geisen Scheper and over $3000 from various individual donors.
The success of these fundraising efforts allowed construction of phase 1 to begin in late 2015.
The cemetery board will be holding its 8th annual Fall Celebration & Cookout on Thursday, October 20 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at which the Durr Foundation and others will be recognized and future plans discussed. Reservations are requested by October 18 to info@HistoricLindentGrove.org
Friends of Linden Grove 2015-2017 Officers are: President, Marshall Slagle; Vice President, Beth Ramsay; Secretary, John Dietz; Treasurer, Chas Brannen; and directors are: Joyce Baker, Wayne Harte, Jeannine Kreinbrink, Faye Massey and Hon. Douglas Stephens.
