OLD LORIMIER FENCING FUNDS ARE SUFFICIENT

Although short of its initial goal, a committee established to preserve Old Lorimier Cemetery has raised enough money to erect a security fence around the Cape Girardeau landmark.

John Schneider, a member of the city's Historic Preservation Commission, has lead the cemetery effort as part of the committee, Friends of Old Lorimier Cemetery.

Schneider said Wednesday the group has raised about $19,000 for the barrier, and is awaiting cost estimates for the fence's chain link portion.

"I think the $19,000 will be adequate for the fence," Schneider said. "We have to take this through the proper city channels, but we hope to have something before the appropriate bodies in the next couple weeks."

Schneider said the committee already has quotes on the cost of the western border of the cemetery, which will be a six-foot, ornamental-iron fence.

"The rest of the perimeter I think we'll do with chain link," he said. "The police favor that, and, of course, the ornamental is a lot more expensive."

Schneider said that although the ornamental fencing is more attractive, the primary reason for the fence is to secure the cemetery at night.

The 186-year-old cemetery along North Fountain Street has been the target of repeated vandalism over the years. Numerous headstones have been toppled and broken.

The Historic Preservation Commission hopes to restore the site and better identify those buried there, Schneider said. But before that can happen the cemetery must be protected from vandals.

Schneider said gates at the Fountain Street entrance to the cemetery and at the steps along the south end of the site will be locked after sunset once the fence is erected.

A new city law approved by the city council earlier this year will prohibit anyone from entering a city cemetery from sunset to sunrise.

"Once that new ordinance goes into effect, it will be locked up after sundown," Schneider said. "We're not trying to discourage people from visiting the cemetery in the day, but we want it secure at night."

Schneider said the Historic Preservation Commission wants to attain a detailed survey of the site to determine who is buried there and where they're buried. Founded in 1806, the cemetery could include numerous unmarked graves.

"We basically know who's in there; we're not sure where they all are," Schneider said.

Hopefully, the Missouri Historic Preservation can help fund the survey work to locate the graves.

"We're going to put together a grant proposal to be submitted to the state Historic Preservation Commission," said Schneider. "Because Cape Girardeau is a Local Certified Government, it could give us a leg up on some of that state funding."

Schneider said the Historic Preservation Commission hopes to make the cemetery a "historic, historical" site by designating it as the city's first local landmark.

"We're hoping to maybe become a model program for cemetery preservation across the state," he said. "We're nowhere near that now, but we certainly want to work toward that end."

The commission hosted a telethon in March to raise money for the preservation effort. The telethon and an earlier mail campaign raised most of the $19,000.

Schneider has no illusions about continuing to rely on private support of cemetery preservation efforts. He said that without a state Historic Preservation Commission grant, there will be little the local commission can do to survey the site or preserve the graves.

"We know we can't expect the city to do that," he said. "They've got too many other important projects and needs, and we know we can't raise that much money."

But Schneider said he was pleased with the public's generosity to date and the $19,000 in contributions.

"You can't believe how pleased I am that we got the money for the fence," he said. "But I'm not going to be really pleased until the day we get the fence in."