Gilbert breaks ground on first cemetery, which is set to open in 2019
Jul 20, 2018, 3:45 PM | Updated: 8:10 pm
(Twitter Photo/@GilbertYourTown)
(Twitter Photo/@GilbertYourTown)
PHOENIX — With more than 250,000 residents, the East Valley suburb of Gilbert is the largest municipality in the United States without a cemetery.
But not for long.
On Friday, Bunker Family Funeral Homes and the town broke ground on the Gilbert Memorial Park.
The cemetery and funeral home at the northwest corner of Queen Creek Road and 158th Street was expected to open in the spring of 2019.
Mayor Jenn Daniels took part in the groundbreaking, along with the Town Council and representatives from Bunker Family.
“This is a remarkable way to provide a needed service to the community. … It’s going to be a beautiful place run by a very reputable company,” Daniels told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
It’s a historic day in #GilbertAZ!
This morning we broke ground on @GilbertYourTown’s first cemetery.
Gilbert Memorial Park will be a place where friends & family can gather to remember & celebrate the lives of those they love. pic.twitter.com/SAuuU0Rhmd
— Mayor Jenn Daniels (@GilbertAZMayor) July 20, 2018
It will be the third Bunker Family location in the East Valley, joining two in Mesa.
According the cemetery’s website, it will include “traditional burial grounds, innovative and diverse cremation memorialization options, private family estates, ponds, and elegant landscaping.”
The cemetery isn’t the only big project in the area. Construction of a 272-acre regional park is scheduled to begin this year about a mile to the east on Queen Creek Road at Higley Road.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Kinnerup contributed to this report.
