joy, to the world (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} plantyhamchuk) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} atlanta,@ 2008-03-26 02:13:00 |
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[Oakland] Cemetery faces long recovery
ATLANTA — Oakland Cemetery is a quiet place where people gather for memorials one day and weddings the next, where workers picnic among gravestones and neighbors turn wandering brick paths into jogging trails.
But this resting place of governors, Confederate generals, "Gone with the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell and golf legend Bobby Jones looks anything but peaceful now.
The March 14 tornado that swept through Atlanta blazed a path right through the cemetery, uprooting towering trees, smashing gravestones and toppling monuments. And more than a week after the storm touched down on hallowed ground, its path is still easy to trace.
Workers have removed some of the 86 trees — crape myrtles, magnolias and, yes, oaks — that were shattered by the storm. But much of the debris remains. Groundskeepers must wait for a federal evaluation — a requisite for getting federal help — before they start their work on any but the most essential repairs.
"Slowly but surely," says Sam Reed, who has been sexton of the cemetery for a decade. "It's a slow process."
Reed may spend years cleaning up after a storm that passed through the cemetery in about 30 seconds. He knows how long the tornado lingered. He counted.
When he stopped by the cemetery to pick up a suit at around 9 p.m. on a Friday, the skies looked clear. But when he noticed the power was out, he scrambled inside his office, a bell tower in the middle of the graveyard.
Almost as soon as he entered, the tornado touched down.
"I was so afraid, I can't even tell you what it sounded like," he says. "I blanked it out."
He tried to get to a bathroom, but ended up crouching down near his office with his back to a window in case it shattered. It didn't. The tower and other monuments in the middle of the cemetery were spared from the storm's fury.
But other cemetery landmarks just a few feet away were mowed down as the storm cut a path from one side of the 48-acre plot of land to the other.
The destruction begins with two fallen angels near the cemetery's western edge. The sculptures once perched on a memorial for Joseph E. Brown, Georgia's Civil War governor. A tall statue of a woman — perhaps Brown's wife — crashed to the ground, shattering into four pieces and tearing a foot-deep gash into the soil.
From there the twister overturned obelisks and monuments that date back to 1850 and tore apart trees that were even older. Winds brought debris from across the city; a metal railing from a train station still blocks one path.
Supporters worry that Oakland could be forgotten in the aftermath of the storm, which damaged other Atlanta landmarks and is believed to have killed one person as it cut a six-mile path through the city.
Founded in 1850, Oakland sits a few blocks east of the Georgia Capitol and the city's soaring towers. In recent years, a hip neighborhood has taken root beside the cemetery's brick walls, celebrating its quirkiness.
Neighborhood eatery "Six Feet Under" sits across the street, as does Graveside Tattoo.
"It's the most serene, peaceful place in the city. You're here and you barely know you're in the city," says Libba Grace, a volunteer tour guide. "Every time you walk these gardens, you discover something new. It's Atlanta's original treasure."
Cleanup could cost millions. For one thing, there's no telling how difficult it will be to remove trees with roots entangled in caskets. Reed, for one, is nervous about bringing in heavy machinery. Even today, Oakland's new graves are still dug by hand.
"It could have been a lot worse. And had it lasted longer, I imagine it would have been a lot worse," says Reed, who has been working 12-hour days since the storm. "We got our work cut out for us, for sure."
But there's a sense of optimism. A fresh round of donations for the cleanup effort could help renovate aging buildings and upgrade decaying paths, many of which were in dire need of repair long before the storm.
"I know the peace will be restored — and it will look better than before," says Reed. "We have to make a comeback. We can't just let it die.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/a
By GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press Writer
___
On the Net:
http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/
ATLANTA — Oakland Cemetery is a quiet place where people gather for memorials one day and weddings the next, where workers picnic among gravestones and neighbors turn wandering brick paths into jogging trails.
But this resting place of governors, Confederate generals, "Gone with the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell and golf legend Bobby Jones looks anything but peaceful now.
The March 14 tornado that swept through Atlanta blazed a path right through the cemetery, uprooting towering trees, smashing gravestones and toppling monuments. And more than a week after the storm touched down on hallowed ground, its path is still easy to trace.
Workers have removed some of the 86 trees — crape myrtles, magnolias and, yes, oaks — that were shattered by the storm. But much of the debris remains. Groundskeepers must wait for a federal evaluation — a requisite for getting federal help — before they start their work on any but the most essential repairs.
"Slowly but surely," says Sam Reed, who has been sexton of the cemetery for a decade. "It's a slow process."
Reed may spend years cleaning up after a storm that passed through the cemetery in about 30 seconds. He knows how long the tornado lingered. He counted.
When he stopped by the cemetery to pick up a suit at around 9 p.m. on a Friday, the skies looked clear. But when he noticed the power was out, he scrambled inside his office, a bell tower in the middle of the graveyard.
Almost as soon as he entered, the tornado touched down.
"I was so afraid, I can't even tell you what it sounded like," he says. "I blanked it out."
He tried to get to a bathroom, but ended up crouching down near his office with his back to a window in case it shattered. It didn't. The tower and other monuments in the middle of the cemetery were spared from the storm's fury.
But other cemetery landmarks just a few feet away were mowed down as the storm cut a path from one side of the 48-acre plot of land to the other.
The destruction begins with two fallen angels near the cemetery's western edge. The sculptures once perched on a memorial for Joseph E. Brown, Georgia's Civil War governor. A tall statue of a woman — perhaps Brown's wife — crashed to the ground, shattering into four pieces and tearing a foot-deep gash into the soil.
From there the twister overturned obelisks and monuments that date back to 1850 and tore apart trees that were even older. Winds brought debris from across the city; a metal railing from a train station still blocks one path.
Supporters worry that Oakland could be forgotten in the aftermath of the storm, which damaged other Atlanta landmarks and is believed to have killed one person as it cut a six-mile path through the city.
Founded in 1850, Oakland sits a few blocks east of the Georgia Capitol and the city's soaring towers. In recent years, a hip neighborhood has taken root beside the cemetery's brick walls, celebrating its quirkiness.
Neighborhood eatery "Six Feet Under" sits across the street, as does Graveside Tattoo.
"It's the most serene, peaceful place in the city. You're here and you barely know you're in the city," says Libba Grace, a volunteer tour guide. "Every time you walk these gardens, you discover something new. It's Atlanta's original treasure."
Cleanup could cost millions. For one thing, there's no telling how difficult it will be to remove trees with roots entangled in caskets. Reed, for one, is nervous about bringing in heavy machinery. Even today, Oakland's new graves are still dug by hand.
"It could have been a lot worse. And had it lasted longer, I imagine it would have been a lot worse," says Reed, who has been working 12-hour days since the storm. "We got our work cut out for us, for sure."
But there's a sense of optimism. A fresh round of donations for the cleanup effort could help renovate aging buildings and upgrade decaying paths, many of which were in dire need of repair long before the storm.
"I know the peace will be restored — and it will look better than before," says Reed. "We have to make a comeback. We can't just let it die.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/a
By GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press Writer
___
On the Net:
http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/
