With about $2,000 left in this year's budget, the city Cemetery Resources Board will prioritize which headstones at Jefferson City's Old City and Woodland cemeteries need repair.
At the board's regular meeting Thursday, Chairman Nancy Thompson submitted a photo essay of the top 70 stones, with repairs ranging from raising above the sod to restoring a heavy, vertical monument to its upright position on its base.
The first priorities will be repairing bed stones, where Girl Scouts will plant flowers in the spring, and the leaning monuments posing the greatest potential safety hazard.
City staff liaison David Grellner told the board the cost per stone could reach $200.
Grant funding searches have yielded no results. Members suggested a capital campaign, sending out donation request letters to speed up the long-term restoration effort and organizing a tax-deductible arm.
The board will host an event at the McCarty Street cemeteries in May to recognize the installment of a new grave marker for Carrie Crittenden, a former governor's daughter who died in the Governor's Mansion.
The Friends of the Governor's Mansion, which will cover the cost of the new marker, also will partner in the event.
At that time, the board hopes to host an open house and provide a variety of methods for the community to get involved with the historic cemetery's preservation.
Lincoln University and scouting organizations have pitched in so far. Thompson hopes to find sponsors to cover the costs of individual graves inside the cemetery.
In other business, the board is:
• Working on identifying all veterans buried at the Old City and Woodland cemeteries.
• Updating its map and records for the Fairview and Hedge Grove cemeteries.
• Pursuing a partnership with the state to maintain the state section of Old City and Woodland Cemetery.
• Enforcing its decoration policy by removing excessive edging and ornaments placed at gravesites at Longview Cemetery.