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Plans for proposed mausoleum revealed

Thorold may have a new $2.2 million mausoleum, if council accepts a proposal from Raimondo & Associates Architects.
mausoleum
New Mausoleum proposed by Raimondo and Associates, Architects. Report Photo

Emilio Raimondo appeared at council last week to reveal the firm’s plans to build a new 2,700 square foot mausoleum at Lakeview Cemetery.

“We’ve done similar projects in Toronto, and at Victoria Lawn (Cemetery) in St. Catharines,” he stated. “There are only two companies that specialize in this type of construction that we know of. We worked closely with (City of Thorold) staff.”

Since the existing mausoleum is reaching its capacity, Raimondo said, “There will likely be a demand in sales,” especially in the first year after its construction.

“We presented a pro-rated proposal that would generate more than $3 million in revenue, by conservative estimates.”

“We are presenting a pavilion, and for marketability, the crypts that sell first tend to be near windows and doors, so we’re suggesting we enclose them in a glass type structure. Glass makes every single crypt more marketable.”

New columbarium walls would accommodate 795 niches for cremated remains, 234 of which would be interior niches, and the new structure would include 180 new single crypts, for full body burials.

“We have arranged the mausoleum to allow a courtyard between the current mausoleum, and we have worked in an interesting landscaping feature”—the existing slope—as a new “reflection area,” said Raimondo.

In the future, he added, the design could be “flipped,” or inverted, and “taken down to the willow trees area, and it would make the existing east outdoor niches more marketable. If they face into a courtyard, they would be more marketable.”

The building would be made of cast concrete, with the $2.2 million price tag including public washrooms and heating.

“There’s a need for public washrooms,” he said, “and there is plumbing there, and the building is already heated so it could be accessible year round within the side building. We can deduct costs by taking away heating, or the columbarium.”

The city hosted a recent public meeting, said Raimondo, “and it wasn’t overly attended, but (staff from) one of the city’s most notable funeral homes came and were pretty happy with the plans.”