SIMI VALLEY : Historic Cemetery to Be Renovated

Simi Valley Public Cemetery, which has fallen into serious disrepair during its more than 100-year history, is poised to undergo a major renovation.

The City Council Monday awarded $70,150 to an Oxnard-based construction company to begin the first of two phases of the cemetery improvement project.

During the first phase, Southern Pacific Milling Co. will replace crumbling asphalt driveways and curbs with reinforced concrete, build a new road and widen the cemetery’s entrance, city officials said. The 7 1/2-acre cemetery is located near Thompson Lane and Royal Avenue. The roadwork is scheduled to begin Sept. 23 and be completed by Nov. 29, said John Watring, a public works official.

The second phase of improvements will include a new irrigation system and a wrought-iron fence as well as extensive new landscaping. Watring said city and cemetery officials have not yet decided when the second phase will begin. But he said installation of the new irrigation system could be delayed indefinitely because of the drought.

Last year, the City Council agreed to loan the Public Cemetery District $350,000 to upgrade the deteriorating cemetery, which dates to the late 1880s.

District officials told the council that the $30,000 that the cemetery collects annually from property tax revenue and the sale of grave sites was not enough to properly maintain the burial grounds, much less make it competitive with a privately owned cemetery nearby.