One of the window sills has fractured and allowed portions of the marble slab to raise. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Oak Grove Cemetery’s mausoleum has held onto much of its peaceful grandeur over the years. But now it’s showing signs of strain, some bows and gaps in its marble lining, crumbling window sills, some spaces in the granite facade where the mortar is gone.

It needs a new roof. The last replacement was foam, and time hasn’t been kind to it. There are some plants growing out of it now. It’s an almost-flat surface and apparently will need a rubber roof replacement.

Christy King is the public works foreman for Marietta’s three cemeteries, Mound Cemetery, Harmar Cemetery and Oak Grove. She has made the city administration and Marietta City Council aware of Oak Grove mausoleum’s troubles, but there are questions to answer before there can be any fixes.

The mausoleum is about 30 feet deep and 100 feet long. It sits on a hilltop. There is no type of heating or cooling in the building. There are ventilation vents in the sides and floor. The interior floors, walls and ceiling are all marble. The building’s exterior covering is granite, accented by giant matching pillars at the doorway.

There will be historical records found somewhere, but at the moment, King and others don’t have a build date on the mausoleum. The earliest burial in Oak Grove Cemetery is 1864, she said, and the earliest interment she’s found in the mausoleum records so far is 1911. She’s not sure if there are any spaces left in it that can be sold.

Marble framing of a burial panel has completely separated from its original installation. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

There are some empty spots, but there have been advance purchases of multiple spots by some families and funeral homes. In the meantime, she’s slowly sorting through index cards for the three city cemeteries and matching them to gravesites. Eventually, she’ll get to the mausoleum.

Councilmen William Farnsworth and Harley Noland visited the mausoleum with King Tuesday to see the situation in person. Councilman Mike Scales and President of Council Susan Vessels also took a look on an earlier visit.

None of them is able to immediately answer the question, “Is the hillside ground moving, or is the building moving, or both?”

Noland said after the visit that he thinks a new roof and repointing the granite are the main things that need to be done initially.

“But it will be expensive,” he said.

Marietta City Councilman Harley Noland passes by a part of the mausoleum interior where no damage is visible. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

His reasoning is that it may be excessive moisture over a long period of time that’s causing damage to various interior elements.The city engineer can probably help point the city in the right direction on the structural issues, he said.

King and Farnsworth are among those who think a professional engineering assessment is needed before anything is fixed. King pointed out a section of cemetery roadway on a curve in front of the mausoleum that has been reinforced against slippage in much the same way that Ohio River Trail repairs have been done. She thinks the cemetery repair was done in the 1980s, and it might have been indicative of larger things to come.

Farnsworth said the procedure now is to let the administration make its recommendation to the Public Lands, Buildings and Parks Committee on how to address the problem and the cost attached. If the committee agrees with that action, the proposal can be forwarded to city council in the form of legislation prepared by the city law director.

A burial space in the foreground shows a panel backing away from its frame. Marietta City Councilman Harley Noland, background, checks another part of the interior. One of the burial space panels in the mausoleum bowed so badly it had to be replaced. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Cemetery foreman Christy King, left, and Marietta City Councilman William Farnsworth discuss structural changes at the Oak Grove Cemetery Mausoleum. The burial spaces on the right side show a noticeable gap in the first top panel, which has shifted forward. More than half of the marble framing at the top of the window has fallen away. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Massive granite pillars guard the doorway of the Oak Grove Cemetery Mausoleum. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)