Informer: City to begin notifying families of those buried in damaged gravesites
Published 11:39 am Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Who is responsible for keeping up the black cemetery on Broad and Goos Street? You can look down in there and see a full skeleton.
The burial ground, called City Cemetery, is owned by the city of Lake Charles, which had hoped to partner with the Calcasieu Coroner’s Office and Johnson Funeral Home earlier this year to repair the damaged graves.
But before any work could be done, the Louisiana Cemetery Board forwarded to the city an attorney general’s opinion that outlines state law on cemeteries and their repair, abandonment and demolition.
The opinion, dated Sept. 17, 2007, discusses the cultural importance of cemeteries in Louisiana and cites several statutes — including R.S. 8:903, which applies to City Cemetery, land the city has owned since the 1960s.
The provision says cemetery authorities can repair the graves in cemeteries older than a half-century only after they give public notice of their plans and wait a year. If no burial plot owners object during that time, the cemetery authorities can make the repairs.
John Cardone, city administrator, said public works employees have assessed and documented the condition of the damaged graves, all but one of which are unmarked.
The city’s legal department will try to find relatives of the person identified on the one gravesite so they can be notified of its condition, he said.
To reach the families of those buried in the unmarked sites, the city will post notices on the graves and will publish an ad in the American Press, its official journal, Cardone said.
“This should be completed within the next few weeks,” he wrote in an email. “The cost to repair and refurbish the burial ground of the dilapidated gravesites has not been determined, but will fluctuate according to the condition of each grave.”
He said public works officials are devising a maintenance plan for the cemetery.
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Principal cannot force off-time work
Can teachers in Calcasieu Parish be required by their principals to work an extracurricular activity such as football and basketball games on their own time — i.e., evenings and during the holidays — with no compensation and the threat of being written up with the possibility of termination?
No, said David Buller, administrative director of high schools.
The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email
