SHREWSBURY – Plans to expand Mountain View Cemetery were recently discussed at the July 11 Planning Board meeting.
The board voted to close discussion on the potential expansion, but it did not officially approve the plans.
The town has been working on expanding the existing Mountain View Cemetery, located off of Boylston Street, for several years as the cemetery has begun to run out of space. The new design will provide space for another 50 to 100 years, the town has said.
Town Meeting approved funds to start the expansion in spring 2023.
The plan includes expanding the cemetery across Boylston Street into the Prospect Park area, using the southernmost 19 acres of Prospect Park closest to Merriam Avenue. The other 76.9 acres of Prospect Park would be preserved and will remain unchanged.
The project calls for a nontraditional-style cemetery. The graves and markers would blend into the natural environment, engineers have said at past town meetings.
“[We’re] creating a place that doesn’t look like Mountain View [Cemetery], but something that looks quite different that is responsive to nature and the environment. It’s a place where… people [will] go to commemorate their loved ones [and] also for families to go to enjoy nature … . The focus is a natural setting that also happens to have landscape and monuments and memorialization,” project designer Ricardo Austrich said last April.
The Davey Tree company surveyed over 2,300 trees in the area to determine the most eco-friendly layout for the project, ultimately reaching what Austrich called a “design that puts the trees first.”
RELATED CONTENT
Shrewsbury’s Mountain View Cemetery has a rich history
Shrewsbury discusses cemetery expansion into Prospect Park
Cemetery expansion funding approved by Shrewsbury Town Meeting
