Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Modern Vision for an Historic Cemetery | Page 6

Rendering courtesy of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
The Hazel Path Woodland Sanctuary
By David P. Barnett, President & CEO
For the past 25 years, the staff and Truste e s of
Mount Auburn Cemetery have been following the guiding
principles of the 1993 Master Plan, which were intended
to ensure a strong future for Mount Auburn as both an
active cemetery and a vibrant cultural institution. While
many refinements to our goals and strategic vision have
been made over the years in reaction to changes in societal
attitudes toward death and other external pressures, one
thing that has not changed is our commitment, articulated
in the Master Plan, that “Preservation and enhancement
of the landscape will come first in all future decisions
regarding cemetery development.” That commitment has
remained fast even as we have designed and implemented
new interment space projects year after year.
The latest project, under construction over the summer
and fall of 2018, will continue our efforts to develop new
burial space in a way that preserves, and in fact enhances,
our historic landscape. Hazel Path, which traverses the
steep, east-facing slope just below Washington Tower, is
being transformed into a “woodland sanctuary” that con-
nects the Consecration Dell woodland to the wildflower
meadow surrounding the Tower. It will continue our efforts
to improve the wildlife habitat value of the landscape and
to be a model of environmental stewardship, and at the
same time it will provide new cremation burial space.
4 | Sweet Auburn
As Cemetery Vice President Bree Harvey explained in the
previous article, our new crematory and expanded facilities
at Bigelow Chapel have been designed to meet the needs
of our community as the percentage of people choosing
cremation continues to grow. Being able to meet the in-
creasing demand for the burial of cremated remains and the
memorialization of those interred will also be important
to Mount Auburn’s future as an active cemetery. The Hazel
Path development is an important part of that future.
We are pleased to be working with Michael Van
Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) on the project. Over the
past two years, we have been collaborating with Michael
and his team, led by Laura Solano, to develop an exciting
conceptual design and then move through the design
development and construction documents phases. After our
great experience working with MVVA on the renovation
of Harvard Hill—just below the Tower at the foot of Hazel
Path—it was a natural extension of that work to move up
the hill. We “broke ground” the first week of June, and
construction will continue through this fall, with comple-
tion of the plantings scheduled for early spring of 2019. We
are also pleased to be working once again with RP Marzilli
& Co. on the installation, after our successful collaboration
on the renovation of Asa Gray Garden.