Residents at odds with cemetery
Public miffed over prohibition of dog walking, jogging, biking
Neighbors always viewed the Forest Hills Cemetery as a place for the living as well as the dead.
But the Forest Hills Cemetery Trust, which owns and operates the huge cemetery just south of Franklin Park, believes otherwise, announcing that the people who normally jog, walk dogs or ride bikes for recreation through the 275-acre space are no longer welcome — even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
“We just have this great green space that’s locking out a neighborhood that would love to cooperate with it,” Jamaica Plain resident Alex Klosterkemper said.
The cemetery trust wrote on its website on May 15: “Upon re-opening, please be advised that dog walking, bicycling and jogging are no longer permitted within Forest Hills Cemetery. We require all visitors to be respectful of our primary purpose which is to bury the dead and to provide a peaceful and tranquil setting for their families and friends.”
The website then added in a post last Tuesday reaffirming that stance, “These regulations were put into place to ensure that the Cemetery grounds and atmosphere are conducive to peaceful reflection and respect for the families and friends who visit their loved ones. Your cooperation is appreciated. Please note that violators will be asked to leave the property.”
“They’ve used this pandemic to force this change on the community, and that’s not right,” JP resident Sarah Marino said. “The cemetery does have a responsibility to the community around it.”
She said she’d walked her dog there twice a day, every day, for the past six and a half years before the gates closed.
“My daily life has changed because of it,” Marino said. “The cemetery is very important to the people who live around it.”
Klosterkemper, who’s organized a group pushing for access to the cemetery, said there was “a very friendly relationship” between the cemetery’s leadership and the community for many years. But over the past several years, the festivals held there have ended, and the adhoc entrances around the perimeter have been sealed off. Residents insist the cemetery normally isn’t crowded, and they’ve never seen anyone being disrespectful toward the dead or mourners.
Buried in the cemetery, which was founded in 1848, are poets e.e. cummings and Anne Sexton, playwright Eugene O’Neill, artist Kahlil Gibran and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.
The cemetery trust and its chief executive officer George Milley III didn’t respond to requests for comment over the weekend.
City Councilor Matt O’Malley, whose district includes the area, said, “communication has not been ideal,” adding, “I’ve had some very colorful and difficult conversations with the CEO, and we’re both trying to hear each other out.”
He said he understands the concerns of the cemetery that come from the increased burials under the coronavirus pandemic, but, “This is a huge piece of land that was originally owned by the city, and public access should continue.”
O’Malley said he plans on taking a deep dive into old records to try to find the original agreement between the trust and the city to see what the terms were.
JP resident Matt Shuman circulated a petition that so far has garnered more than 1,590 signatures, urging the cemetery to reconsider.
“The overarching issue is that our concern is that Forest Hills Cemetery is an irreplaceable green place gem in the city,” Shuman told the Herald. “In the last eight to 10 years, the leadership of the cemetery has really significantly moved away from that vision. They’ve just shown a lot of disinterest in working with the community.”