FHRC Newsletter, 17 March 2009

March 18, 2009 – 11:46 am

17 March 2009
Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery Newsletter

Hello, and welcome to the March 2009 newsletter of the Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery.

As many of you already know, this winter had been a tough one on the landscape at Riverside; most of the mature trees have died since watering was discontinued in 2002, and at this point the remaining trees pose a hazard to historical monuments and visitors.

Since November when we posted a story on The Leaning Trees of Riverside Cemetery, a number of trees have fallen over, causing damage to several monuments (including the Evans Mausoleum, among others).

Realizing the seriousness of the situation the owner of the cemetery, Fairmount Cemetery Company, has become much more proactive, and has removed many of the most precarious dead trees, including the one that was ‘leaning’ over the Archer monument.

We appreciate Fairmount’s attention to this situation; nonetheless, it points out that the current approach to managing Riverside is not sustainable.

The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery is dedicated to finding a long-term solution for preserving and maintaining Denver’s oldest, most historic, and most fascinating cemetery. Specifically, we are working on two initiatives:

  1. Adopt a Block: A Comprehensive Assessment of Riverside
  2. Riverside 2020: Vision for the Future, Respect for the Past

More information on these initiatives is included in this newsletter.

write online for money

As always, your membership, contributions, and volunteer efforts go directly to helping us build a better future for Riverside. You can always find more information and contact information on our website.

Best regards,

-Hugh Graham
President, Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery
friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org


Photo by Linda McConnell for the Rocky Mountain News

Photo by Linda McConnell for the Rocky Mountain News

Adopt A Block
A Comprehensive Assessment of Riverside

n November of 2008, The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery (FHRC) announced a plan to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Riverside.

This assessment program will serve as the foundation for the future preservation and restoration of Riverside. Once the comprehensive audit is complete, we will build our set of priorities moving forward. The plan contains a number of elements, including the structures, monuments, trees, roses and horticulture.

We have named this program “Adopt A Block”, as we are looking for participation from the community in helping us to conduct this ambitious audit of the condition of Riverside.

We are pleased to report that we are making progress in building the framework for moving forward on this project. Specifically, our intention is to create a fully digital web-based resource center (including GPS mapping) for all our findings.

We’re planning to allow you to ‘adopt a block’ later this spring; please let us know if you would be interested in participating by sending an email to friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org.


Riverside 2020
Vision for the Future; Respect for the Past

Photo by Linda McConnell for the Rocky

Photo by Linda McConnell for the Rocky Mountain News

What’s your vision for Riverside eleven years from now?

That’s the question that the Friends of Historic Riverside hopes to answer through a new, community-focused program to develop a vision for the future of Riverside.

Over the course of the past year, FHRC has been meeting with a number of groups, including the Trust for Public Lands and the Greenway Foundation, to discover opportunities for the preservation and restoration of Riverside.

Based on these initial conversations, we are now ready to move to the next level; through Riverside 2020, we hope to engage civic and government leaders, experts in historic preservation, planners, landscape architects, and members of the community in this conversation.

So, what’s it going to be? A Historical Park? Open Space? An operating cemetery with a focus on green burial? A combination of all three?

Look for more details about “Riverside 2020” on our website in the near future. In the mean time, if you’d like to be involved, please email us at friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org.


Upcoming Event: Book Talk by Annette Stott
Pioneer Cemeteries:
Sculpture Gardens of the Old West

Annette Stott, Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery Board member and co-chair of our history and research committee, will be holding a book talk and signing to benefit DU Art!

Annette is the Director of the School of Art and Art History at the University of Denver. Her book, Pioneer Cemeteries: Sculpture Gardens of the Old West, “offers an intriguing tour of the importance of cemeteries as havens of art and culture in a place and time where the living was rough, the dying frequent, and the embellishments few.”

Sunday, April 26 2:30-4 PM
Lindsey Auditorium, Sturm Hall
2000 E Asbury Ave., on the DU Campus

FREE to DU Art! members & students; $10 to others.
Free with purchase of book at the event.

More information on the book and how you can get a copy is available on our website.


Riverside tidbits:
News, Events, and Connections

Mark your Calendar: The Friends of Riverside Cemetery annual meeting will be held on May 16th at 10:00 am. We encourage all members, volunteers, potential board members, and interested parties to attend. We’ll be announcing more details soon…

Riverside in the News: The demise of the Rocky Mountain News was a sad day for all of us (after all, it was one of the few Colorado institutions older than Riverside), but before the final paper hit the presses they ran a terrific story on the plight of Riverside. If you missed it, you can still read it online.

Riverside Cemetery on Facebook. Facebook.com is a social networking site that allows people to find and cultivate connections with friends, neighbors, and to and to discover new ones. So, come join us, and tell your friends to become friends with the friends…


Get Involved:
Volunteer, Become a Member, or Make a Donation

Got a hankering to get involved? We have committees dedicated to History & Research and Preservation & Environment, and we’re also looking for people with internet communications and database skills. If you’re interested, send a note to friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org. Or, visit our get involved page for more information.

The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery is a volunteer-run and member-supported non-profit organization. Your donation goes directly promoting awareness and preservation of Denver’s oldest cemetery. Visit our membership and donations page for more information on how you can offer your financial support. You can donate online or print our membership brochure if you’d rather mail us a check.


Contact Information

Join Our Email List
We encourage you to sign up to receive this newsletter via email. You can always unsubscribe, and we won’t be giving your information out to anyone else.

If you have an idea or suggestion we encourage you to get in touch with us:

Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery
PO Box 16237
Denver CO 80216
friends@friendsofriversidecemetery.org

The Friends of Historic Riverside Cemetery is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness and promoting preservation of Denver’s oldest cemetery.

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