EDGEWATER - On Sunday, October 15th, Minxie and Jim Fannin of the firm Fannin-Lebner (established in 1984 in Concord, Massachusetts), professional graveyard and preservation consultants, came to Edgewater to assess the damage sustained by the Edgewater Cemetery gravestones in the recent Avalon fire.

Harvey Weber, the Borough Administrator, who saw the need for professional advice in the rehabilitation of this historic cemetery, invited the Fannins to look at Phase I in the northeast corner of the cemetery (that portion that suffered the most damage to its granite gravestones).

The conservation consultants had just completed a two-day workshop on cemetery restoration sponsored by the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs held in the historic cemetery of the Reformed Dutch Church of Pascack in Park Ridge. Bob Rambone of the Borough’s Department of Public Works attended the seminar as did Ruth Paci of the Borough’s Cultural & Historic Society. The Society was authorized by the governing body to evaluate the damage to the cemetery and make recommendations.

The Fannins photographed and appraised the damage to the cemetery’s grave markers, and will prepare a report for the Mayor and Council.

They suggested that shards of granite stones involved in the fire be picked up and carefully boxed for adhesion in the spring. In the meantime, each affected stone should be surrounded by wooden stilts, covered by heavy plastic, and checked throughout the winter season for seepage.

They pronounced Edgewater’s cemetery one of the loveliest they had ever seen - the setting, the peacefulness, the open space so needed in the midst of urban renewal.

Earlier in the month, a Certified Landscape Architect, Edward J. Snieckus, Jr., CLA, PP, had evaluated the fire’s damage to the shrubs, trees, and turf in the cemetery. The Cultural & Historic Society later reviewed and approved the architect’s blueprint for the replacement of plantings, which will take place before the cold weather sets in.

The architect also advised that the two huge oak trees in the rear of the cemetery (probably more than a hundred years old), although scorched by the fire, might leaf out in the spring because their buds could have hardened before the blaze.

Mr. Snieckus also designed a seating arrangement near the cemetery’s entrance with benches, and plantings of perennials and annuals.

Avalon Bay Communities, Inc. is assisting the borough in these endeavors.

11/1/00

From Cultural & Historical Society Press Release 10/18/00