Island Cemetery 6/19/24 Island Cemetery 6/19/24

Volume IV - Annual Meeting

**The News from Island Cemetery**

*Serving Newport’s families for over 175 years …*

President’s Report, June 18, 2024

Grounds Update: Frank Amaral’s experience and expertise at all matters horticultural is obvious. He has been pruning shrubs and hedges and the grounds have never looked better. We contract with Atlantic Lawn and Garden for cutting and trimming the grass. We are spending more on maintenance than in the past, approximately 10%, but the increase is offset by the elimination of a monthly invoice to Four Seasons Landscape (Lee Richards).

If we get requests from lot owners that their lot needs attention, we accommodate them as quickly as possible. Several have responded positively by making unrestricted donations to the Friends of Island Cemetery. With the recent increase in interest in the cemetery and recognition of availability, we are selling more lots. For burials, we open cremation lots in- house and we use TJ Brown to open and close full burial graves.

Arboretum: The cemetery has now been granted full arboretum status which has helped to increase attention particularly with regard to the city’s Open Space Plan and the goal of increasing the canopy cover for the city. The Newport Tree Conservancy and Newport have planted 16 trees along the fence line of Vicksburg Place and Frank has added them to his watering duties. Within the cemetery we have purchased and planted 3 new trees in one of the carriage lanes that we currently offer for burial locations. The map of the cemetery and its trees can be found at https://www.newporttreeconservancy.org/islandcemetery.

Belmont Chapel Update: The Damon Company removed the chain link fence surrounding the chapel and the scaffolding inside in preparation for the Belmont Stakes Race Day fundraiser. The interior work is nearly completed with only some further painting remaining. The chancel windows and the window above the entrance are in production and will be reinstalled before the end of summer. The three large restored stained-glass windows have been reinstalled and look beautiful! The wall painting, designed to replicate what was there originally, adds to the overwhelming effect. We will make it available by the end of summer for funeral and memorial services for lot owners at a reasonable cost.

Belmont Stakes Race Day Fundraiser was held on June 8th and we got to show the chapel in its nearly completed state. We had David Riccio of the John Canning Studio and Roberto Rosa of the Serpentino Stained Glass Studio give presentations on the processes used to restore the decorative painting and stained-glass windows. We had the presentations filmed and will have the video of the keynote speakers available in the future. The weather cooperated this year and we will be able to add approximately $32,000 to the Belmont Chapel Foundation building maintenance fund.

Awards for Preservation. We’ve applied for two awards for the Chapel Restoration, the Rhody Award for Historic Preservation by Preserve RI and the Doris Duke Preservation Award which could give the chapel and the cemetery recognition for the beautiful restoration.

Grants: We’ve applied for and received another grant from Alletta Morris McBean Trust for the chapel. This one was for $150,000 specifically for the chapel’s building maintenance fund which brings the total to $200,000. We hope to increase it to at least $500,000 to assure that the building doesn’t ever lapse into disrepair again. We also received a matching grant of $9,000 from Preserve RI for a security system for the Admin Building as we now start to focus our attention on that needed restoration.

And, last but not least, the EJMP Trust continues to help us with the data project by awarding $8,000 to Friends of Island Cemetery in support of our operational costs related to updates and corrections to the database and the mapping.

Restoration of the Admin Building: Our request for $350,000 from the van Beuren Foundation (vBCF) to restore the roof and exterior masonry of the building at 30 Warner St was denied. Instead, the Foundation asked that we consider all the cemeteries in the area and what a joint vision might look like that included them all. The newly labeled “Cemetery District” includes the Braman Cemetery, the City Cemetery, Common Burial Grounds (with God’s Little Acre), the Island Cemetery, the Friends Cemetery and the Annex on Van Zandt Ave. We asked vBCF to fund the workshop, as well as the structural assessment of both the garage and the administration building, which they agreed to. On April 19, we held a one-day workshop at the Marriott, led by Tanya Kelley, of Place Studio LLC, who did the Master Landscape Plan for the Island Cemetery.

We had a steering committee of 6 representing the directly interested parties and an additional 25 people from other institutions such as the heads of Norman Bird Sanctuary, the Tree Conservancy, Bike RI and Swan Point, We separated into 5 tables with different topics and questions appropriate to the individual’s knowledge and submitted our answers to Tanya to compile, which she has done.

Some interesting ideas that emerged

· It was recognized that the Island Cemetery’s staff handles all inquiries from the public of where a burial is located as it is the only location with actual buildings and staff. All would benefit from a central office for the increasing number of cemetery visitors , with room for ADA compliant bathrooms, additional office space, archival storage, and a large room with space to assemble for lectures and various gatherings.

· Signage depicting the Cemetery District’s abutting cemeteries would be helpful for visitors who generally considered them a single cemetery. Also, a central website would be useful.

· The need to manage and encourage volunteer help

· The need to develop in-house capabilities to restore and reset tombstones as a critical need for all.

· Security is always an issue and we are considering adding a part-time guard to patrol the Island Cemetery.

View the full report on the website at https://www.islandcemeterynewport.com/cemetery-district. We hope to reassemble the core group quarterly to monitor progress and continue what we have begun.

Special Projects update: After seeing the condition of the monument on the George Norman lot on our website, https://www.islandcemeterynewport.com/specialprojects and investigating further, the Prince Charitable Trust, members of the Prince family and Guilluame de Ramel have answered our request for funding to repair and restore the lot. They have collectively donated $80K to Friends of Island Cemetery towards the effort. When the work is completed, there will be a plaque installed crediting the contributors. We hope that this is a first and will encourage other owners of historical lots to do the same.

Summer Tour Program Updates: Starting on June 15, 2024, guided tours on Saturday mornings began presented by Lew Keen, Zach Russell, and Rob Vitello to highlight and celebrate the people buried in the Island Cemetery. The first tour was run by Zach and had 6 attendees. There was a considerable amount of interest in the chapel so Zach brought them through and discussed the restoration. Point those interested to our website, https://www.islandcemeterynewport.com/guided-tours, or the office for more information

On August 15th from 9 am to 3pm, the 48 State Tour by Atlas Preservation, a group dedicated to saving America’s graveyards, will hold a workshop at the Island Cemetery as part of their cross-country tour that will be free to the public. We have reached out to the Newport Restoration Foundation to let them know as they also hold workshops to train stoneworkers and this could be a possible career path.

Island Cemetery 2/5/23 Island Cemetery 2/5/23

Volume III - Belmont Chapel

The August Belmont Chapel Restoration Capital Campaign

We have surely had an extremely successful Capital Campaign thanks to all of you, our generous supporters and donors. This report is a brief look at the financial success to date and at the restoration progress at the chapel. The table below shows the accumulated totals for our campaign endeavors including applications to foundations, solicitations to individuals and family trusts, and our annual Belmont Stakes event. We closed out FY2022 with nearly $2.25M towards our overall goal amount of $2.5M! However, we are not deterred from continued fundraising efforts

We submitted an application to the Champlin Foundation for $50,000 to fund the Farewell Street entrance gate and fencing that we are having fabricated as part of the beautification of the allée leading to the chapel. We created and published a brochure with the remaining naming opportunities on our website, FB and Instagram which brought in $10,000 for the Gothic window on the east side of the nave. Since January 1, we have raised $19,100 from individual donors. Access the brochure by clicking on the image below.

We look forward to getting together with our campaign committee headed up by Rob Vitello and Elizabeth Leatherman as we start our planning for Belmont Stakes 2023. Deposits have been sent to the suppliers and vendors we used last year as Rob continues to contact and reserve their services.

Restoration Project Progress

You will be pleased to know that the restoration has been moving quickly with the interior work progressing at a good pace. Rough and finish plaster has been applied to the walls in the chancel and the nave. The fascia boards with the quatrefoil cutouts are fabricated and installed. Mahogany and steel frames have been installed in the windows in the chancel and the nave. With the completion of the HVAC installation the wall heaters are keeping the chapel interior warm. The moisture barrier in the basement is keeping the damp at bay.

The west stained glass window, Christ Blessing the Little Children, has been completely restored and is in storage at Serpentino’s awaiting installation. We are waiting for delivery of the cathedral glass for the Gothic nave windows. The chandelier has been fabricated and delivered and is stored in our garage. We have made good progress on the restoration of the entrance with 2 of the old pillars now restored with brick that is a close match to the sandstone color of the chapel.

Building Conservation Associates, Inc. (BCA) of Newton Centre, MA, reputable experts in decorative painting, analyzed and reported on the interior finishes of the nave, the chancel, and the robing room. They are providing the paint scope which will be used for the finish painting. The pictures below are their renditions and recommendations for the chancel and sanctuary(nave) interior paint colors and stenciling.

Of particular interest and importance is the historical context described in the excerpt from the report here:

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE BELMONT CHAPEL FINISHES

Every decorative element remaining in the Belmont Chapel interior appears to have been selected directly from Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc’s “Designs & Ornaments from the Chapels of Notre Dame.” 9 Viollet-le-Duc was involved in the restoration of Notre Dame from 1845 to 1864. In addition to being responsible for the addition of gargoyles and other decorative sculptures to the exterior, he designed the decorative painting scheme for the side chapels within the cathedral, and published a stylized version of his designs in 1870. This was a high profile publication for a high-profile building, and Hunt, being well-connected to the architectural scene in France, would certainly have had access to this publication from the United States. Some of Viollet-le-Duc’s designs were re-printed in London in 1882 by brothers William James Audsley and George Ashdown Audsley, in a text titled “Outlines of Ornament in the Leading Styles.” 10 The title of this book shows the popularity of the designs in the decade since they were released in Paris. In addition to the designs, the Audsley brothers published a color palette“most suitable for decorative painting,” condemning the use of bright, “garish” colors in ecclesiastical buildings in the medieval styles.

The Building Committee has accepted the report and is in agreement with the recommendations for the colors and the stenciling. We are very excited to see the results!

We expect that the chapel will be ready for programming to begin by early summer and that it will be completely restored by the fall of 2023.

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Island Cemetery 6/15/21 Island Cemetery 6/15/21

Volume II- Projects in Progress

**The News from Island Cemetery**

*Serving Newport families for over 175 years …*

Cedar Way

The most visible and important development is the progress on the Cedar Way columbaria and cremation garden, designed by Tanya Kelley. The newly designed cremation area in Cedar Way makes use of one of the original carriage ways laid out in the 1848 design of the cemetery. To date, eight trees have been planted, the garden walk has been laid out and we are awaiting delivery in mid-June of the four columbarium structures. Each will contain 15 niches with individual granite covers to securely hold two urns for cremation remains for a total of 60. The backs of the structures will be faced with fieldstone and capped with bluestone similar to other walls in the cemetery. The in-ground burial of cremains in the grass area will have small slant markers placed in a ground cover. Several granite memorial benches will also be placed along the way.

Belmont Memorial Chapel Restoration

Renewed interest in the building was created last summer when the Art Exhibit by Arts&Newport and Dodie Kazanjian attracted many visitors who were new to the Island Cemetery. Beautiful images of the interior were taken and published by the Daily News. The Newport String Quartet performed one of their Hidden Newport concerts, “highlighting some of Newport's most eclectic, beautiful, and unusual spaces” and posted the video of the performance on their website. Their videography provided exterior and interior views of the beautiful architectural details of the chapel.

Following up on the renewed interest in restoring the chapel to its former beauty, we applied for and received several grants to begin the restoration work this summer. The first activity, funded in part by Preserve RI, will be to install below-ground electrical service to the chapel. This will facilitate installation of an alarm and fire system to protect the building. The Alletta McBean Charitable Trust has generously provided funds which will enable restoration of the slate roof, a necessary and substantial step that has to precede any restoration of the interior.

Watch for the work to begin this summer as soon as contracts are finalized with the construction team and materials are available.

Building Updates – Island Cemetery

Garage: Proceeds from the sale of the pickup truck and the backhoe, machines that had been sitting idle, funded property maintenance projects to the garage across from the cemetery entrance at 33 Warner Street. To secure the building, several repair steps were undertaken including removing the asbestos, repairing the large holes and replacing the entire roof. The exterior was spruced up with new gutters and a new coat of paint.

Office: We are seeking an assessment report to develop a proposal for replacing the slate roof on the office building and repairing the windows and gutters. In addition, we have contracted to install an alarm and fire system to secure the building against vandalism and fire.

Fencing: Cassidy Bros. Forge Inc. have removed the entrance gates for repair at their shop in Rowley MA. They specialize in the restoration of decorative iron works such as those that grace garden cemeteries like Mount Auburn and Island Cemetery.

Historical Records - Document Preservation

Thanks to grant funding from the EJMP Fund for Philanthropy, all paper records have been entered into a systems management program, Cemetery Find, by Bosscan Computer Scanning of Wakefield, MA. The database has a publicly accessible portion and can be used by anyone to research burials in the Island Cemetery as well as locations under www.CemeteryFind.com. We have had a Salve intern (Zack Russell) for the past 4 months who is continuing with us part-time on staff this summer, doing corrections to the database and checking mapping for handwritten records that were difficult to transcribe accurately. In addition to corrections, newly developed areas such as Cedar Way and mapping of the Friends Cemetery on Tilden Avenue need to be included.

A second project is the preservation of the historically valuable volumes of interment records and deeds stored in the massive safe in the office building. Jim Currier, local bookbinder specialist, has been engaged to do this project. Our goal is to protect the integrity of the books for serve current and future researchers.

Island Cemetery 5/19/21 Island Cemetery 5/19/21

Volume I - Welcome

Hello All and Welcome to the first newsletter from Island Cemetery!

To keep you informed of new projects here in the Island Cemetery, we are launching an online newsletter here our website.

We have many staffing and Board changes bringing new skills and ideas . I’d like to introduce myself, Pamela Kelley. I’ve been the President of the Board of Trustees for the past 2 ½ years. My background was as an attorney here in Newport as well as a business owner of Rue de France, an import and online business that was sold in 2001. Trustees are chosen from people who own or control a 4 grave lot, as is set out in the original Articles of Incorporation from 1848. Our Board now includes Frank Ray, George Herrick, Walter Reed, Ron Dupont, Norman Bestoso, Kevin Kelley and Harry Eudenbach. Harry is also President of the separate non-profit foundation set up in 2014, the Belmont Chapel Foundation.

Although Mike Henlynshyn retired as of the end of 2019, we still call on his expertise on occasion. He worked at the cemetery for 30 years and has an encyclopedic memory. Lee Richards of Four Seasons Landscaping, Tiverton, who has been doing our grounds maintenance for the past 10 years is continuing so we will have continuity. We have also hired a part time administrator, Sharon Hussey to keep track of the paperwork and bookkeeping and to help us apply for grants, which is something we hope to do more of. Sharon was formerly the Exec Director of Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation. She brings a lot of experience of the non-profit world to the job, as well as her black labradoodle, Max.

During this Covid 19 lockdown, we’ve been able to keep the property open to visitors and the dog walkers. They’ve always been careful and respectful of the space and are a welcome group. We’ve added a sign at the entrance to remind everyone to maintain social distancing until the pandemic retreats.

We have applied for and received a $10,000 grant from EJMP Foundation for Philanthropy to specifically be applied to conserving and computerizing the cemetery’s records that go back to the founding in 1848. It is great to be recognized by this community and even better to be able to undertake this important project which will make accessing all our information as well as grave locations available to all. We were able to do this through the Friends of Island Cemetery, a 501 (c) (3) which is now a partner of the Island Cemetery. Sharon has been instrumental in getting this grant. We’ve identified the cemetery management software and company we’ll be using and hope to get them started in the next few weeks as translating information from cards into an electronic, accessible form involves interpretation of data and handwriting. Salve Regina has already been a great help as they’ve scanned all the cards which are in a digital form, which is certainly step one from an archival point of view.

Another exciting project is a long-range plan for the cemetery’s future that incorporates newly available burial areas, includes landscape design and takes into account the trend towards cremations while continuing to provide for maintenance of the lovely grounds. This has allowed us to take a look at other historic cemeteries and see how they’ve addressed the problem of balancing reasonable growth and responsible maintenance given a limited space we have available .

A proposal has been made by Dodie Kazanjian to use the Belmont Chapel as a gallery to temporarily exhibit the artwork of an artist she’s selected from July to September, 2020. Her 501(c)3 is called Art&Newport and the website at art&newport.org sets out their ideas: to educate and create programming that will make use of the city’s natural landscape and its history as a place for contemporary art and artists.

This would be the fourth year she has staged events in Newport, the last being in the summer of 2019 at the Marble House. She has selected artist Piotr Uklaski and loves the Belmont Chapel as an exhibition space, just as it is, in an abandoned condition, aside from removing the wooden window covers and replacing with Lexan and restoring and reinstalling the original wooden doors. Art & Newport will be paying for the cost of the door repair and restoration as well as the Lexan for the windows to let in natural light. The artist, Piotr Uklaski, has been working on a series of paintings specifically for the chapel; some of his recent works can be seen in his Oct 2019 NY exhibition Ottomania.

We’re tentatively planning to have the space open by appointment only for limited times, only on weekends from July to September, depending on what will be safe at that time. We will need volunteers to man/woman the chapel and the office, develop a handout about the cemetery and monitor the space and number of people. If you’re interested, please contact either Harry at harryeudenbach1@verizon.net or myself at islandcemeterynewport@gmail.com. Harry thinks there would be a lot of local interest as well in the chapel and I agree with him, particularly as all the other large events in Newport have now been cancelled. It will be a great way to create interest in the cemetery and bring attention to the restoration needs in front of people who have the means to support it.

The cemetery has many varieties of trees some of which are considered “specimen” trees. We’ve applied to and are hoping to be one of Newport Tree Conservancy’s Arboretum . You can look at our tree map, which Bartlett Tree Experts prepared here which lists all our trees and their condition. Our trees are reaching maturity and some need to be replaced so that’s on our To Do List, although it’s unfortunately not the only thing on that list!

If you have any questions or want to get involved with the cemetery, please contact us at islandcemeterynewport@gmail.com

Regards,
Pam Kelley, President
Island Cemetery Trustees