Freeman Mortuary in Jefferson City has completed the renovation of its second-floor chapel started in October.
Improvements to the third-generation funeral home at 915 Madison St. include doubled space in the main chapel, better audiovisual capabilities and a new, private family lounge.
"Operating out of the same facility for 55 years has had its challenges," said Ryan Freeman. "What families expect out of a service and what it takes to honor the life of a loved one has changed dramatically over the years."
A top priority was reimagining the flow of people through the funeral home during a visitation. Where visitors previously saw very little of the Freeman Mortuary building after entering the front door, the new setup uses more of the existing space to make services more seamless.
While the building's square footage remains the same, the chapel has doubled in size after three side rooms were removed to add more flexible space. The chapel now can accommodate services as large as 175 people and can be rearranged for smaller services.
The Freeman family maintained accents like the home's traditional black trim and the treasured antique furniture they've accumulated over the years, featuring it tastefully in the chapel.
"We can still accommodate a traditional funeral, but we can now transition into a more contemporary funeral," said Phil Freeman.
Additions include prominent memory shelves, where families can display photos and mementos of their loved ones, and an audiovisual system that allows for families to play videos and songs, as well as live-stream the service to other areas of the home and remotely for people who can't make it to the funeral.
"There's a lot of ways to add audiovisual to a service to add meaning for a family," Ryan Freeman said.
Freeman Mortuary hosted its first service in the renovated facility Friday, after three months of partnering with local churches to host funerals off site.
"We would also like to graciously thank the families we had the privilege to serve the past three months while we were renovating," Ryan Freeman said in a news release. "We understand the inconvenience it may have caused, and thank you for your trust and patience."
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