Greenwood Cemetery graves to be moved

By Tom Waring

Times Staff Writer

Now that the City Planning Commission, City Council and Orphans Court have given their approval, a company affiliated with Cancer Treatment Centers of America will soon begin the delicate process of moving more than 2,000 graves in a decaying section of the Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery to a more fitting location.

Last week, a multi-denominational prayer service took place at the cemetery, where the ground was blessed in anticipation of the upcoming project.

On hand for the ceremony were three CTCA chaplains - the Revs. Luis Centeno, Robin Childs and Wendell Scanterbury - along with Imam Fathy and the Rev. John Large, of Mater Dolorosa.

Preparation work is underway, and the costly task of moving the graves will begin in a few weeks. The process will last six to nine months.

For years, the 44-acre cemetery, at 930 Adams Ave. in Northwood, has been in shambles, having long been run by volunteer caretaker George DeLong. Headstones were overturned, and families could not locate many graves because of debris and overgrown trees and weeds.

In January 2000, Ron and Carol Hancock bought the property for $1 with plans to build a crematory, funeral parlor and parking lot. Many neighbors fought the proposal.

In February 2007, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the Hancocks could not build on the site.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which opened adjacent to the cemetery in December 2005, experienced enough growth in a short amount of time that it needed to expand. The cemetery presented the best option.

The property, the former home of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Rush, is on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. It is now home to graves of Civil War veterans, a Medal of Honor winner and others, and historians and neighbors were hoping for a new owner that would improve the cemetery's condition.

They got their wish late last year when Greenwood Holdings, a sister company of CTCA's property manager, the International Capital Management Corp., acquired the property.

There will be improvements to the entrance, sidewalk and walls, along with better landscaping, lighting and security and renovation of Rush's house. The Friends of Greenwood Cemetery will lobby to have the property placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A parking garage and utility building will be erected in the back. The graves in that section will be moved up front, with remains placed in a series of concrete vaults.

"There will be individual disinterment and individual re-interment," said Mike Allietta, director of planning for Greenwood Holdings.

The company has been contacting families whose loved ones and headstones will be moved. The new-look front will include a monument with the names of the deceased and a contemplative area for families.

"It will be very, very respectful and dignified," Allietta said, adding that his company has been working with a noted archaeologist.

CTCA's plans for the hospital site include construction of a clinical building and guest quarters.

Barry Howell, a cancer survivor and president of the Northwood Civic Association, is impressed with the hospital's commitment to spend a lot of money improving the interior and exterior of the cemetery.

Howell, who was once so disgusted by the cemetery's condition that he called for the demolition of the historic Rush home, calls CTCA a "godsend" for the community.

The cemetery overhaul was discussed during a community meeting at CTCA, as well as at five civic meetings and two board meetings.

"I haven't heard one objection to the plan," Howell said. "Not one."

Joanne Clare, a director of the Friends of Greenwood Cemetery, remembers the property being used as a dumping ground and by drug abusers and vandals.

For Clare, whose grandparents will be relocated in the move, the disinterment of graves isn't her first option, but she considers it the best choice.

"It's better than having them overgrown and forgotten about," she said.

Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com