Vancouver Cemetaries

[SpongeG]

Not something I've ever given any thought to, but how many cemeteries are there in the Vancouver area?

Are they filling up? Can most of them expand? Are there plans for new ones? if so how does that go? Are they a city issue or do private companies own/run them?

This is an article about Coquitlam and its Cemetery that is running out of room.

Coquitlam grapples with the rising cost of death

With a growing population and rising land value, the city of Coquitlam released a draft cemetery plan this week outlining how it plans to cope with the cost of burying the city's dead.

Stefan Labbé / Tri-City News
MARCH 9, 2019


Photograph By STEFAN LABBÉ

The city of Coquitlam released a new draft cemetery services plan this week that sketches out a roadmap for the future of Robinson Memorial Park Cemetery over the next 30 to 40 years.

The plan comes after the city realized, if nothing were done, traditional burial plots would run out in the next three to four years.

But opening up space for more burials has necessitated a re-imagination of a traditional cemetery.

In a metro area where land is a premium and municipalities struggle to find solutions to a housing crisis, they also now find themselves grappling with the rising cost of dying.


As Coun. Bonita Zorillo put to council last June, “If no city decided to expand or zone, how does B.C. as a province and Canada as a country plan to deal with death as a society?"

Based on population growth and data on burial preferences, the city of Coquitlam calculated they would need to bury or cremate 31,000 people over the next 50 years.

...

https://www.tricitynews.com/news/coquitlam-grapples-with-the-rising-cost-of-death-1.23658894

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Not something I've ever given any thought to, but how many cemeteries are there in the Vancouver area?

Are they filling up? Can most of them expand? Are there plans for new ones? if so how does that go? Are they a city issue or do private companies own/run them?

This is an article about Coquitlam and its Cemetery that is running out of room.

I just did a quick search and it looks like they're mostly city owned and "governed by provincial legislation". Check out these links for more info.

[Tetsuo]

*hits J

New spin, Time to build purpose built "mausoleums" in Industrial land or even ones able to occupy podiums of certain building.

Or have mini cemetery parks spread out across the cities attach to residential/office redevelopment, akin to private gardens.

Just Trudeau Gang Weed thoughts

*j passed to misher

[MIPS]

Why not build vertically?
Multi-floor open-air buildings for the cremated.

[Jebby]

Aren't most people cremated these days?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Jebby

Aren't most people cremated these days?

77% in BC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_cremation_rate#Canada

[SeymourDrake]

I like the idea of building underground Vaults, with multiple floors for those who choose cremation. Imagine how many cremated remains you could put in a 1 block, 10 floor underground Site. Maybe have a park on top, or a place of prayer with no specific religion attached.

Would this work? Is the population ready for this?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Why not build vertically?
Multi-floor open-air buildings for the cremated.

You can put them underground too, as per many Asian cities.

I doubt most Westernized Vancouverites would go for it right now... but seeing as the dead are starting to have better accommodations than the living, that might change.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

You can put them underground too, as per many Asian cities.

I doubt most Westernized Vancouverites would go for it right now... but seeing as the dead are starting to have better accommodations than the living, that might change.

I think what you are describing is a mausoleum. Ocean view in Burnaby has several mausoleum buildings that have been created over the years. They accept caskets but also have smaller compartments where cremated remains can be stored if that is how the family decided to handle things. Some of these are on the outside walls of the buildings and "open air". This is a very European concept and well accepted by many cultures.

The newest is probably a 4-5 level building with the bottom floor being the basement.

Here is the "marketing video" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d28tuT0GBU

Another video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUZc8UtzTCs

[Nites]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

You can put them underground too, as per many Asian cities.

I doubt most Westernized Vancouverites would go for it right now... but seeing as the dead are starting to have better accommodations than the living, that might change.

Like the catacombs in Paris right? That would be pretty neat. Imagine it being underneath downtown.

[Marshal]

In Italy they build large ossuary structures as central components in cemetaries. These can contain thousands of remains, some in the traditional form of bone houses, but most 20th century ossuaries utilize small compartments to intern ash containers of various sorts.

Aldo Rossi, the famous Italian ratio-postmodern minimalist architect, designed a couple of ossuaries; the most notable being in Modena at the Cemetery of San Cataldo complex.