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A new columbarium is dedicated Sunday at the Natchez City Cemetery. Standing in front at the podium is the architect for the project Thomas Eaves of Landarc Consulting Group Inc. based in Hattiesburg.(Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Left, the architect describes the team that built the columbarium. Right, Annette Holder of the Natchez City Cemetery Association speaks during the columbarium dedication ceremony. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Cemetery volunteers prepare refreshments for the ceremony on Sunday.(Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Molly Manning Robertson made and decorated this cake for the ceremony. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Mayor Dan Gibson, left, speaks at the columbarium dedication. Musicians entertained guests. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Around 50 people came to the dedication ceremony for the new columbarium at the Natchez City Cemetery on Sunday. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Several pastors prayed over the new columbarium. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Several pastors prayed over the new columbarium. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — A new columbarium that can hold the cremated remains of over 600 people has been dedicated Sunday at the Natchez City Cemetery on the Bluffs Addition. 

The project has been over 20 years in the making, according to Annette Holder of the Natchez City Cemetery Association. 

The group of 20 or so women in the association learned they couldn’t act alone. 

“We learned all kinds of things, but it took us a long time to make a decision, until two angels came to us in the form of Al Walker and Dianne Bunch, and they gave us some concrete direction,” Holder said. 

The architect for the project is Thomas Eaves of Landarc Consulting Group Inc., based in Hattiesburg. 

The columbarium holds approximately 360 niches— 288 niches on the wall, 72 in the center — and each niche has room for the cremated remains of two people. The cost of the niches ranges from $3,500 to $3,000, though there is an introductory discount of $500 off the price until June 1, officials said.

Eaves said with his 50-plus experience in landscape architecture, the columbarium project at Natchez City Cemetery landed in his top 10 projects. It was a good experience, with 20-plus women in the cemetery association giving him direction at every turn, he said.

“(This project) was such a good experience and such a great vision everyone had. We just had to put it all together. … And after a lot of discussions and work, we finally put the pieces together and we had a great team. Dozer Construction from here in Natchez was the contractor and they did an excellent job. The columbarium itself was done by Sunset Memorial in Calgary, Canada, and it was all fabricated there after our design and shipped here. … So it was quite the experience and many years in the making … shipping from different parts of the world and all that, but we’re really proud of it.”

Mayor Dan Gibson quoted Benjamin Franklin, “Show me your cemetery, and I will tell you about your town.”

“Truly, the story of Natchez is right here where we are today,” he said. “It honors and values our past and honors our diversity and our various cultures. … It shows lessons about building a community. … We learn that people of all walks of life contributed to the building of the rich, colorful and inspiring Natchez community that we all love.”

Gibson talked about the 200-year history of the cemetery, with the last in-ground addition added with the Bluffs Addition in 2015. 

“Today, the trend nationally shows an increase in cremations,” Gibson said. “Likewise, approximately one-third of our burials here at this cemetery are cremations. And so, the Natchez City Cemetery had a dream, a dream that there would be a place for the inurnment of cremated remains. Inurnment —  a word I’ve just learned today, but a word that truly is

the future. We were running out of room here, and with more and more people wanting to choose cremation, it was so important that we have a proper place … that will be enjoyed in the centuries to come.”

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Columbarium dedication is Sunday at City Cemetery