WINNEMUCCA - Mayor Di An Putnam presented the council with a proposal for a cremains niche building at last week's city council meeting and staff was authorized to move forward with the project, which will be completed by Christy Vault Company for a total of $45,880.89, including installation.
The city had already budgeted $50,000 for the project for the next fiscal year, and Putnam said that the project is something that has been on the city's to-do list for quite some time.
City Manager/Engineer Steve West said that the city worked with Christy Vault to come up with the concept of a curved retaining wall for the cremains building.
"It looks a lot more attractive and provides a space for funerals," he said. "We will also be eliminating some (empty) grave sites to make room for a walkway."
The proposed cremains building will be a curved wall about eight feet tall with 96 niches, which West said should last the city quite a while.
Although no prices have been nailed down for the niches, West said that the cost of a niche will probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000. Although a plot typically costs around $250, that price only includes the land itself. The addition of other costs (casket, burial, tombstone, etc.) usually puts the total well above $1,000.
Putnam said that she thinks the cremains wall will be a positive addition to the cemetery and add to the aesthetics as well.
"The number of people who use that means of burial is considerably more than it used to be," she said.
The city will not have a set date for the completion of the project until an official contract is entered into with Christy Vault, but Putnam said that it will definitely be completed within the next fiscal year and hopefully this summer.[[In-content Ad]]
