Improvements are coming to a portion of Columbus Sandfield Cemetery
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Improvements are coming to a portion of Columbus’s Sandfield Cemetery, but there are going to be a few growing pains at first.
Citizen complaints about the maintenance of the eastern section of the historic African-American Cemetery led the city on a years-long effort to determine ownership of that portion.
Since it was private property, the city could not legally perform maintenance on it.
That hurdle has now been cleared. An heir to Prince Edwards, the late owner of the property, has signed over their interest to the city. That has cleared the way for Columbus to take control of the property.
Before any further changes can be made to the cemetery, the city wants to make sure that plots are still available and that future burials won’t interfere with existing graves.
That has the city taking an extra step. New burials will require authorization from the city.
“We sent out letters to all the funeral homes, letting them know the city has an interest in it, and we will be maintaining it, and no one is allowed to bury in it unless they can show that they own a plot there,” said Columbus Mayor Stephen Jones.
City Facilities Director, Rogena Bonner, will oversee the cemetery guidelines. For its part, the city began landscaping work in the eastern section today, and Mayor Stephen Jones says they are looking at plans that would restore it to be more in keeping with the historic portion of the cemetery.
