LEHI — The death of a child is something families hope they never have to face, but it's an unfortunate reality for some.
City leaders in Lehi have recognized a need and are in the process of constructing an infant cemetery near the 65-acre Lehi Cemetery, 1100 N. 400 East. The infant cemetery will be near the cemetery offices at 1525 N. 600 East.
“This is a real reverent setting for what it is,” sexton Shawn Winters said Thursday while surveying the field that will soon become the new cemetery.
City leaders are investing $90,000 in the project to deliver a measure of solace for grieving families. Eventually, it will feature a monument at its center. A bricked-in area already has been erected.
“What we want to see is something that embraces the family,” Winters said.
Families who have lost children envision their babies still living, he said. The city hopes to honor that vision with the finished product. A statue is in the process of being commissioned, Winters said.
“Thinking that if the cemetery is the nicest place in the city, that’s how I like to think of it, then this would be the nicest place in the cemetery,” he said.
Winters said he envisions a Temple Square feel for the area. Workers will plant more trees and change flowers for the given season.
Child cemeteries aren’t entirely rare. Provo now has a second one due to the city’s growth.
Winters said 1,200 plots are planned for the Lehi infant cemetery. The hope, he said, is to create a place for families to want to return regularly.
“(We want it to be a place) that they’re proud they’re here, that when they come here and see this statue that it’s breathtaking, it’s amazing, or something that brings a positive light to a tragedy like that,” Winters said.
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