Debate rages over fence costs

Ever since the town and the University set aside $150,000 one year ago for a restoration project at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, town officials have voiced differing views on how to allot the money.

The debate centers on the amount that will be spent on restoring rod-iron and cast-iron fences around the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies' plots, where several famous University figures are buried.

A 12-member task force charged with examining the issue wants to spent one-third of the money to provide lights along the cemetery's pathways and another third on further research and archives for the cemetery. Others say that's too much.

On Monday, the Chapel Hill Town Council held a public hearing to discuss a proposal from the task force on how to use the money.

The council first heard the task force's proposal in October.

Paul Kapp, a campus historic preservation officer who serves on the task force, said it is important to mend the fences.

"You can go into the cemetery and match the names on the graves with the names of buildings on campus like Coker, Mitchell and Abernethy," Kapp said.

He said he is disappointed with the council's hesitance to approve the proposal. "Looks like we're going back to the drawing board."

Kapp said that the Di and Phi societies were responsible for the first libraries on campus, and that coined the school's colors. "We owe it to them to restore their plots for all that they've given to the University."

Council member Mark Kleinschmidt said he opposes the task force's proposal. "I just think that the money we have could be put to better use."

Kleinschmidt said he'd like to spread the money out across the entire cemetery and try to prevent more damage to the plot.

Council member Dorothy Verkerk said she supports the proposal.

"The fences surrounding the Di Phi plots are absolutely beautiful," she said. "The problem is restoring the fences is an all-or-nothing thing. You have to completely restore them or not at all."

She said she would also like to see restoration efforts for headstones and for the surrounding wall.

"I know for a fact that several people come from out of town to visit Charles Kuralt's grave," she said. "It would be an embarrassment if we did nothing to restore damaged or vandalized headstones."

The restoration initiative began last August, when the council approved the construction of an air-conditioning chiller plant and parking deck next to the cemetery.

As part of that approval, the University decided to allot $100,000 toward a cemetery improvement project.

The council followed by authorizing $50,000 to the project and forming a task force to develop a proposal on how to spend the money.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.