Lincoln Branch Library can't expand until bodies are removed
The hope was there wouldn't be many, but after scraping away about a foot of topsoil this week, archeologists soon found evidence of more than 50 graves, raising immediate concerns others could be nearby.
"We have no idea how many [skeletons] there are," said M. Catherine Bird, research coordinator of the Marengo-based archeological firm hired to excavate the property. "We don't have information that says how many lots were sold or how many people were buried in the lots."
Built on land once used in the mid-19th Century as a final resting place for hundreds of pioneers, the library can't proceed with the planned $5.5 million expansion until officials are sure all the bodies have been removed.
y law, human remains are to be protected when they are uncovered at a construction site. To avoid potential delays with its expansion, the Peoria library got a permit to excavate the property bordering the library and remove any remains found there, said Dawn Cobb of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Peeling away the topsoil and performing the initial survey, which will cost $53,000, likely will take a couple of weeks, said Bird, who works for Midwest Archaeological Research Services. Officials said that if the firm found evidence of burial remains, the project likely could take several months and cost more money. The bodies would be relocated to another cemetery.
Depending on how many grave sites are discovered, the excavation at most could cost the library $400,000, supervisor of public relations Trisha Noack said.
"We're committed to building on that spot," Noack said.
Work on the library started in 1910 on the site of what had been called the City Cemetery. Opened in 1842, the cemetery was closed in 1886, during a time when there was fear the bodies would contaminate the public drinking water, officials said.
The remains of at least 388 early settlers were moved to Springdale Cemetery. People who watched the evacuation said they doubted many remains were missed, according to reports.
At least two families, however, still are buried in their original plots near the library.
The families were upset when they saw the other tombs being moved and in 1887 got court injunctions that the graves of their loved ones never be disturbed, Noack said.
Toward the front of Lincoln Park, where the library is located, the graves of Frederick Griffin, his wife, mother and a granddaughter aren't anywhere near the construction site, she said.
But the burial sites of Harriman Couch's wife and child happen to lie right in the path of the originally planned wedge-shaped annex.
The library's lawyers looked into what it would take to get permission to move the graves.
"That injunction stays enforced forever, and it would be very expensive and time-consuming to overturn it," Noack said.
So the library changed the shape of the expansion to avoid the graves. A protective barrier will be placed around them to make sure nothing is disturbed.
The library needs to expand but doesn't want to abandon its original home built by philanthropist and steel baron Andrew Carnegie, Noack said.
"It really is an architecturally important building," she said. "A used building is a preserved building. When you decide not to use a building, that's when it gets into trouble."
Peeling away the topsoil and performing the initial survey, which will cost $53,000, likely will take a couple of weeks, said Bird, who works for Midwest Archaeological Research Services. Officials said that if the firm found evidence of burial remains, the project likely could take several months and cost more money. The bodies would be relocated to another cemetery.
Depending on how many grave sites are discovered, the excavation at most could cost the library $400,000, supervisor of public relations Trisha Noack said.
"We're committed to building on that spot," Noack said.
Work on the library started in 1910 on the site of what had been called the City Cemetery. Opened in 1842, the cemetery was closed in 1886, during a time when there was fear the bodies would contaminate the public drinking water, officials said.
The remains of at least 388 early settlers were moved to Springdale Cemetery. People who watched the evacuation said they doubted many remains were missed, according to reports.
At least two families, however, still are buried in their original plots near the library.
The families were upset when they saw the other tombs being moved and in 1887 got court injunctions that the graves of their loved ones never be disturbed, Noack said.
Toward the front of Lincoln Park, where the library is located, the graves of Frederick Griffin, his wife, mother and a granddaughter aren't anywhere near the construction site, she said.
But the burial sites of Harriman Couch's wife and child happen to lie right in the path of the originally planned wedge-shaped annex.
The library's lawyers looked into what it would take to get permission to move the graves.
"That injunction stays enforced forever, and it would be very expensive and time-consuming to overturn it," Noack said.
So the library changed the shape of the expansion to avoid the graves. A protective barrier will be placed around them to make sure nothing is disturbed.
The library needs to expand but doesn't want to abandon its original home built by philanthropist and steel baron Andrew Carnegie, Noack said.
"It really is an architecturally important building," she said. "A used building is a preserved building. When you decide not to use a building, that's when it gets into trouble."
from:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-peoria-library-bodies-12-jun12,0,2856219.story
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