NIPIGON — The township of Nipigon is looking into whether nearby Red Rock could share services or joint ownership of a new cemetery.
“Our beautiful cemetery is running out of real estate,” said Nipigon Mayor Suzanne Kukko.
“We’re not in imminent danger of running out of space currently. We still have space for the next little while, but we are planning ahead because we will be running out of space at some point.”
While Red Rock doesn’t have a cemetery, Kukko explained folks who pass away in the township and want to be buried in the area of the region are buried at Nipigon's cemetery, which the township of Nipigon is “100 per cent responsible for maintaining.”
She said the council is looking for other properties in their catchment area that might be appropriate for a new cemetery.
The council instructed staff to investigate the possibility of the cemetery at a regular meeting on March 25.
“We are looking at a property on our Golf Course Road,” said Kukko.
She added that the property is not in use right now.
However, the council is still unsure of the final location.
In the meantime, the township has already purchased and installed a new columbarium, a structure designed to hold funerary urns, this year to allow for more cremations to be held at the existing Nipigon Cliffside Cemetery.
The addition will address the growing need for space as full burials become less common and cremations become the preferred choice of internment for many families, according to the Township of Nipigon’s Facebook page.
“The trend now for folks is to ask for cremation instead of burial,” said Kukko.
"... I want to say we only did one burial last year in 2024 and the rest were cremations.”
The cemetery still offers full and half plots for cremated remains. Each plot may hold the cremated remains of up to four people.
However, as of March 26, cemetery bylaws went under review, with possible updates to allow for more remains in a full burial plot.
