Lone Mountain cemetery gets new office

A new Lone Mountain Cemetery office opened Monday, providing a more comfortable place for patrons to attend to burial plans.

"It's so much nicer and warm," said Betty Denison, a volunteer for the cemetery since January of 1997. "It doesn't have the cold cement blocks like the last place. It is nice and bright."

The cemetery's former offices were torn down to make way for expansions of the Carson City Senior Center.

The new cemetery office is located on Beverly Street and houses a front reception area, a meeting room, an office for cemetery Sexton David Stultz and a breakroom for cemetery employees.

Construction on the new office began about three months ago and cost nearly $150,000. It was funded by Carson City's capital improvement fund, Stultz said.

The office provides a place for patrons to purchase a plot, make arrangements and help people find lost graves.

Up next for the 150-year-old cemetery will be a $150,000 shop to house burial and landscaping equipment. The shop will also be funded by the city, Stultz added.

Stultz said the cemetery is also building a new urn garden, a place that will hold eight to 10 engraved cremation benches that have space for two names. The garden will also include 50 niches for remains and additional trees and plants.

The cemetery currently holds 7,000 plots, including cremations and graves. They still have empty ground and will continue to expand until the space is filled. Lone Mountain owns land up to the homes on the north end of the cemetery. Stultz said the cemetery adds about 120 bodies a year. It is the largest of five cemeteries in the Carson City area.