Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News John Noel, left and his nephew Don Cash of Lyon Township worked out a compromise with developers to protect graves at the New Hudson Cemetery.

South Lyon saves cemetery
Growing communities fight to preserve history while resisting developers

By Amy Lee / The Detroit News

Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News A statue watches over the New Hudson Cemetery while a power shovel works on a nearby retail development. Endangered cemeteries        Vandalism, decay and encroaching development threaten to decimate cemeteries throughout the United States. Here is a list of Michigan cemeteries advocates say are neglected and in need of restoration and repair:    * Brighton Village Cemetery, Brighton, Livingston County    * Garth Cemetery, Rapid River, Delta County    * Higbee Cemetery, Niles, Berrien County    * Johnson Cemetery, Carleton, Monroe County    * Leonard Cemetery, LaSalle, Monroe County    * Millar Cemetery, Clinton Township, Macomb County    * Mooney Cemetery, Comins Township, Oscoda County    * Oaklawn Cemetery, Algonac, St. Clair County    * Peck Academy Cemetery, Constantine, St. Joseph County    * Pine Ridge Cemetery, Bay City, Bay County    * Potter Cemetery, Ash Township, Monroe County    * South Attica Cemetery, Attica Township, Lapeer County    * Unnamed Cemetery, Lakeview, Mecosta County    * Unnamed Cemetery, Saginaw, Saginaw County    * Upton Cemetery, Sandstone Township, Jackson County    Source: Saving Graves, a worldwide cemetery-advocate association     Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

   LYON TOWNSHIP -- Plans for a sprawling development near the township's oldest cemetery moved longtime resident John Noel to action.
   He became a voice for past residents who can't speak, he says, by arguing against a developer's idea to widen the two-lane Milford Road to five lanes by cutting into the New Hudson Cemetery and moving several gravesites.
   "I had a real problem with that," Noel, 61, said. "I'm not against development, but I just think a lot of people would have a serious problem with someone digging their loved ones out of the ground."
   Township leaders and Noel found themselves in the unenviable position of defending the township's history and heritage against the ever-pressing demands of development in this fast-growing township in southwestern Oakland County.
   A compromise struck months later with township leaders saved the cemetery from destruction, but other communities in Metro Detroit and across the state grapple with the same pressures.
   "Progress has squeezed out our history," said Tom Gadowski, 46, a Warren resident who fought to restore the Millar Cemetery in Clinton Township in the 1990s. "These cemeteries are what's left of the old days, when the area wasn't built up. Now we have high rises next to cemeteries."
   Both the Millar and the New Hudson cemeteries contain graves that date to the 1800s. A Revolutionary War veteran is laid to rest at the New Hudson cemetery, which is quickly running out of room.
   "I was absolutely dismayed at the idea of disturbing that cemetery," said Pam Johnson, Lyon Township clerk. "We told them over and over, 'Don't touch that cemetery.' It's our history."
   Bloomfield Hills-based developer Kojaian Management Co. about a year ago suggested township leaders help to widen Milford Road by donating cemetery land on the west side of the road, and the developer would expand the road to the east on land it already owned, Supervisor Joe Shigley said. The developer is building a $150 million, two-phase retail development on the east and west sides of Milford Road; construction on that project and the road widening is under way.
   "This was a concern for us, too, because grave relocation is not an easy process," said Tony Antone, vice president of development at Kojaian. "In the end, we were able to leave the cemetery exactly the way it is, which was really the best for everyone."
   The project lies south of I-96 at the heart of the unincorporated village of New Hudson. Residents who traveled from Hudson, N.Y., settled the area, and several of those early settlers are laid to rest in the cemetery, Shigley said. It holds about 800 graves.
   "It seems like you're tampering with history when you move people to a different location," Shigley said.
   "The whole idea behind history is to try to preserve it."
   But getting into the business of cemetery restoration and preservation can be difficult. Not every cemetery has records of the dead, and the records of those that do can be unreliable. Some were family plots that grew to accommodate neighbors and friends, and information on the deceased faded as the family thinned out. Also, while a community may assume upkeep responsibilities at a site, such as mowing and tree trimming, municipal leaders may not be the owners of the cemetery. Owners must give consent before volunteers can spruce up headstones or remove brush.
   The mystery of cemeteries are alluring, but serve as roadblock for restoration and preservation projects, said Betty Driscoll, who in 1998 began the Clinton County Restoration Project, a group that has restored 12 cemeteries in that county.
   "When stones are broken or crooked, you know that is not the way people who put that stone wanted it to be," she said. "For me, this is about showing respect for that dead person."
   Communities can also protect their old cemeteries by garnering a historical site designation from the state. Commerce Township recently obtained the designation for its Commerce Village Burial Grounds, to protect the cemetery from future developments. In Lyon Township, Noel is well aware that construction to widen Milford Road to five lanes from two will turn the peaceful resting place into small plots marred by noise from a thunderous thoroughfare.
   "I won't mind the activity," he said. "What's important is that is a final resting place, one that stays there forever. There's a lot of history there."
   

You can reach Amy Lee at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com.