By the time we established an Annual Safety Survey in 1998, the on-going monument repair project had already seen 1500 gravestone repaired... but they had been limited by the limitations in my skills and experience, and the reliance on government funded student labour (great, but not technically skilled or experienced... at least until the end of the summer).
With a focus on safety– starting with the safety of the public but extending to staff and then to the safety of the historic monuments themselves– we have completed over 5000 repairs at Woodlawn Cemetery... all the while trying to ensure the long-term preservation of monuments through following best-practice conservation techniques to the greatest extent possible given the importance of ensuring long-term safety on the grounds.
This year, Kate Paterson should be able to help me again, if she's got her Ph.D mostly done, and I'm hoping to get a few of the remaining safety issues addressed....
If you're interested in cemetery conservation and gravestone repairs in a Canadian context, I have posted a good deal of material on the Historic Monument Care portion of the Woodlawn site over the years: http://guelpharts.ca/woodlawncemetery/section.php?sid=40
PS: There's also lots of photographs of Woodlawn in my monthly landscape photos on the Guelph Arts website available at:
http://guelpharts.ca/woodlawncemetery/photomedia-listing.php?gid=30
It's summer in Canada... cherry & blueberry season!
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