Columbarium planned for Saugus veterans cemetery

SAUGUS – In an effort to honor veterans the way they wish to be honored, the Cemetery Commission voted to install a columbarium in the Veterans Cemetery this spring.Commission Chairman Dennis Gould said they received their first inquiry regarding a veteran who was to be cremated and decided to look into establishing a columbarium.Columbariums are places designed to hold urns, which hold the ashes of those who have been cremated. One was put in at the Riverside Cemetery 2006 with the goal of stretching the life of the cemetery and giving residents another option for their final resting place.Located near the rear east end of the cemetery, Riverside’s columbarium is a large, polished, black granite box marked with green granite detailing.The name columbarium comes from the Latin word Columba or “dovecote,” a compartmentalized housing for doves. Like a dovecote the columbarium has niches – Riverside’s has 40 – the largest of which can hold two urns.The decision to put one in Riverside came as the cemetery began nearing capacity. Similarly, Gould would like to stretch the life of the Veterans Cemetery as well.The cemetery, which was reopened last year, already faced some controversy when a stand of trees was mistakenly removed. Many thought the tiny plot in Saugus Center should have remained closed, guarded as an historic site. Gould, however, argued at the time that with Riverside nearing closure and with no other land in site for a future cemetery reopening, the veterans cemetery seemed logical. The cemetery can hold approximately 100 more graves and will remain for veterans only.And with the columbarium, Gould said, “Veterans will be taken care of as they wished.”Gould said he hopes to have the columbarium in place by summer.