Advisory board backs arch entry, soft‑mown border and recreated headstones for New Albany Cemetery

The City’s Cemetery Restoration Advisory Board presented recommendations to council on July 7 for planned improvements at the historic New Albany Cemetery.

Clerk Mason reported the board favored an arched overhead portal sign reading “New Albany Cemetery,” a soft‑mown grass border (rather than fences or hardscape) to delineate the historic cemetery boundaries, brown corner markers for historic consistency, and recommended against an optional mown path that could encourage cut‑through traffic.

The board also moved to recommend recreating headstones for a list of historic burials (James Conkle; William H. Yantas; Amanda Yantas; Lorenzo Alre; Rev. Joshua Montgomery; Susan Tanner Montgomery; Mary Anne Molly Olinger Cone; Sarah Sager Cone). Staff told council that the headstone work was added to midyear appropriations and that roughly $15,000 was available; one recommended stone might be recreated through a military headstone program.

Council members said they would want staff to present more detailed visuals and cost estimates at a future agenda if council seeks to consider the board’s recommendations in detail.

What happens next: staff will prepare materials (visuals and cost details) for council review at a future meeting and coordinate contracting for any approved restorations.