New construction at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

MAUSOLEUM EXPAN­SION  Construc­tion is well under way for two new $3 million wings to the mausoleum at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, which will add 7,000-square feet to the existing building and create 1,034 mausoleum spaces. Observing the progress of the project are (from left): Mirian Tanis, manager of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery and Mausoleum; Rebeca Ruiz-Ulloa, diocesan architect; Kim Tadlock, vice president of McCleskey Construction Co. of Atlanta; Father Peter VB Wells, director of the diocesan cemetery office, and pastor of Our Lady of the Valley and Holy Cross parishes, both in Wayne; Jerry Eben of Scott F. Lurie, Architect of Oradell; and Lily Kribs, PE, project manager for McCleskey Construction.

TOTOWA  Construction that began in July has been moving ahead of schedule on two new $3 million wings to the mausoleum at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery here. This major project will add more than 7,000-square feet to the existing building and create 1,034 mausoleum spaces on the sacred ground of the more-than-170-year-old historic cemetery.

Holy Sepulchre broke ground July 25 on the two new wings — at 3,545-square-feet each — that have been joined to two previous additions that also bookend the original mausoleum building, which opened in 2001. It will house a total of 3,208 above-ground burial spaces, when construction is finished. Favorable weather this summer aided the contractor in getting more work done — unexpected good fortune that might bring the project to completion ahead of its deadline of June 2017, said Father Peter VB Wells, director of the diocesan cemetery office, and pastor of Our Lady of the Valley and Holy Cross parishes, both in Wayne.

Bishop Serratelli will dedicate the new wings next June, which will house two distinct features: niche rooms, which will hold more than approximately 250 urns of cremains, and crypt rooms that will enable families to purchase burial spaces together. Already, the cemetery has sold many of the new burial spaces, Father Wells said.

“We are building another mausoleum to meet the increased demand. Mausoleums are popular, because they are a nice, clean and neat place to visit loved ones and because of the move toward above-ground burials and cremation,” Father Wells said.

Each niche room — one located in one of the new wings and another in the existing buildings — will contain rooms of about 250 sealed 12- by 11.5-inch glass-enclosed niches that will hold the urn and can accommodate a photo of the deceased, Father Wells said.

The crypt room in each wing’s corridors — like the rest of the mausoleum — was designed for families. It offers burial spaces that are single or double, side by side or one in front of the other. The crypt area will hold benches and a gathering area that have seating throughout where families can sit and pray, said Mirian Tanis, manager of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery and Mausoleum.

“Our mausoleum can accommodate many family needs. Entombment in a crypt or niche are alternatives to interment in a grave,” Tanis said.

The new wings will mirror the design of the first two additions and the original mausoleum, which were constructed of poured concrete, granite and marble. The burial spaces are stacked six rows high with the first three rows remaining most popular, because they sit at “touch level” for families. Also, the new additions will transform the burial spaces on the outside now into inside spaces with the installation of a roof above them and an interior hallway in front of them, Father Wells said.

Also on the outside, the new wings will display colorful mosaics that will “evangelize Totowa Road,” where the mausoleum stands near Holy Sepulchre’s rear gate to Totowa Road entrances. The subject of the new artwork has not been determined but might follow the theme of the mosaics on the first additions and the original building: disciples, who served as witnesses of Jesus. Some mosaics on the mausoleum show Mary of Magdala, to whom Jesus first appeared, and Peter, the rock upon whom Christ built his Church, Tanis said.

This project also calls for extensive renovations throughout the original mausoleum and the first two wings, including the retrofitting of a former storage closet into a niche room. In addition, contractors will install new energy-efficient lighting, carpeting that matches throughout the facility, replace the roof and refurbish the restrooms to be environmentally friendly, Tanis said.

Dedicated in 2001 by now Bishop Emeritus Rodimer, the original mausoleum houses the “main room,” where priests can perform reception of the body and families can pay last respects before entombment. Otherwise, the chapel serves as a peaceful environment for meditation and prayer with a worship space. This year, due to inclement weather, the mausoleum was the site of the annual Memorial Day Mass, Father Wells said.

Father Wells anticipates that the crypts and the roof on the new wings will be completed before the winter, so work on the interior can begin. Scott F. Lurie, Architect, an architect architectural firm from Oradell has been overseeing the project. McCleskey Construction Co. of Atlanta — which built the original building and first two wings at Holy Sepulchre, as well as mausoleums at Calvary Cemetery, Paterson — has been building the new wings at the Totowa cemetery, he said.

Holy Sepulchre was founded as the parish cemetery of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Paterson. It has been in operation since the early 1840s, incorporating some of the original cemeteries in Paterson. It was named after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, associated with the Resurrection of Jesus. The cemetery holds the plot for the remains of Franciscan friars of Holy Name Province who served the eastern seaboard of the United States. Notable burials include John P. Holland, famous for inventing the submarine and Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, former pastor of St. Joseph Parish, West Milford, who served as chaplain to the New York City Fire Department and who on Sept. 11, 2001, became the first recorded fatality from the terrorist attacks.

Rebeca Ruiz-Ulloa, diocesan architect, who approved Holy Sepulchre’s mausoleum expansion, credited Father Wells, Tanis and staff for being “attentive and involved” in the project and for their foresight in renovating the existing main building and first wings.

“The new wing additions are beautiful and will provide an important service,” Ruiz-Ulloa said.

[To purchase above-ground or below-ground burial spaces, contact Tanis at (973) 942-3368. To see updates and pictures of the construction progress to date, visit www.holysepulchretotowa.org.