The Coast’s dearly departed now have a new way to rest in peace with the addition of a 24-compartment columbarium at Seaview Cemetery.
On July 15 the cemetery just outside Gibsons had the Coast’s first columbarium installed. A columbarium is a structure that offers an above-ground burial option for those who wish to be cremated.
Urns containing the ashes of loved ones can be placed in one compartment or “niche” of the columbarium. The face plate to each niche is then sand-blasted with whatever message the family wishes to mark the urn’s placement.
“Nowadays actually a lot of people are going towards the columbarium,” said Geri Gelineau, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) parks secretary and project manager for the columbarium installation. “Probably there are twice as many cremated remains than we have full burials … so this is giving people another option because a lot of people don’t like to be put under the ground.”
The new columbarium cost the SCRD approximately $12,000 to purchase and install near the centre of Seaview Cemetery where the grove of cedar trees stand.
There is room to erect more columbariums in the future if demand for the service warrants, Gelineau said, and to provide more seating in the area for those who come to visit.
“We’re always willing to accept memorial benches in loved ones’ names,” Gelineau noted.
Find out more about Seaview Cemetery at www.scrd.ca/Cemetaries.
