For the first time in the history of the Park City Cemetery, grave sites are being opened for visitors.
While such a statement leads to macbre visual imagery, actual graves aren't being revisited for curious onlookers. Instead, the city is offering nonresidents a final resting place in a cemetery previously reserved for Park City citizens only.The move follows the planned addition of 800 burial plots this summer. Formerly, only those who had lived in Park City for at least five years could claim a spot in the cemetery, the only public cemetery the Summit County.
The city hopes to generate revenue toward cemetery projects and upkeep through plot sales. Some 100 plots will be made available for nonresidents for $600 each, the new cost for residents is $300.
"We don't think we're going to get a lot of people from L.A., but a lot of people have an affinity for Park City," said City Manager Toby Ross.
Ross said a significant amount of Park City visitors live just outside the city limits and noted that many who attend school in Park City School District aren't residents.
City officials expect to generate just enough money to add a few amenities to the cemetery. The city service staff proposed the idea of nonresidential plot sales when the cemetery addition, one-fourth the size of the original cemetery, neared completion. The City Council approved the idea in resolution form at a meeting Thursday night.
Ross said the decision to sell plots to nonresidents is an expression of gratitude to visitors, rather than a business venture.
The city began constructing the addition to accommodate requests for family plots. Only isolated plots remained in the original cemetery.