NOTICE: Crews will be conducting clean up at both Hillcrest and Crown Hill Cemeteries beginning Thurs, June 6th at 7:30 AM. Please remove all decorations from the area including Angel/Shepard Hooks, light fixtures, boxes, metal containers, potted plants and wreaths. Flowers can remain on the headstone in fixed vases, but nothing can remain in the grass that would prohibit mowing and trimming. If you have any questions, please contact Public Works at (816) 630-0755.
To maintain the beauty and serenity of the Excelsior Springs cemeteries, the following rules and regulations have been established by the City of Excelsior Springs for the use, maintenance and governance of Hillcrest Cemetery and Crown Hill Cemetery.
Rules for Visitors
The purpose of these rules and regulations is to provide for the orderly operation of all city-owned cemeteries. They will also serve as a guideline to ensure the beauty, peacefulness, and solemnness to the areas that serve as a tribute for loved ones laid here to rest.
• The Cemetery is open to visitors between sunrise and sunset.
• Visitors are required to use the walks and drives and are forbidden to trespass on cemetery lots, except as may be necessary to gain access to other interment spaces within the Cemetery.
• Visitors are prohibited from spreading ashes above ground.
• Memorial shrubs, trees, bushes, and flowers may be planted in designated areas within the Cemetery with the consent of the Sexton. Consent is necessary to ensure improvements do not affect the routine maintenance of the cemetery.
City of Excelsior Springs Cemetery GIS
Finding the gravesite of a loved one can sometimes be frustrating. Visual landmarks like trees are always changing and can make a special visit turn into a wild goose chase. Cemetery visitors are welcome to visit the Excelsiorsprings.integritygis.com site to help locate the graves of their ancestors. Please feel free to email cemetery@excelsiorsprings.gov for additional information requests pertaining to the GIS, documented corrections, or for submitting headstone images, obituaries, and newspaper articles no greater than 1 megabyte in size each. The following format extensions are all acceptable (*.tiff;*.pjp;*.jfif;*.bmp;*.gif;*.svg;*.png;*.pict;*.jpeg;*.svgz;*.jpg;*.webp;*.ico;*.xbm;*.dib;*.tif;*.pjpeg;*.avif)
Contributions
The Crown Hill and Hillcrest Cemeteries accept donations or endowments for general maintenance and capital improvement projects. These thoughtful gifts are used to maintain the beauty and efficiency of our cemeteries. Donors may designate a use for gifts and every reasonable attempt will be made to comply with their wishes. Please visit esgives.org if you would like to make a donation. Your gift is tax deductible in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Code Section 501C3.
Decorations for Gravesites
• All floral decorations, whether natural or artificial, shall be subject to the Cemetery’s written policies. Permanent containers shall be in-ground containers that do not hold water when not in use or the type placed upon the monuments or markers, such as vases or saddles. Temporary containers will be removed and disposed of when they impede maintenance of the cemetery. DO NOT use glass, clay, or pottery containers, pieces of wire or similar binding to secure baskets or pots at any time. This can create dangerous situations for staff performing maintenance duties. The Cemetery Sexton, without notice, may remove vegetation that has been planted on lots.
• No lot shall be decorated with any tree or shrub, nor shall the lot be disturbed in any way except in keeping with Design Plans & Specifications herein. Only those decorations that are placed on the monument and do not impede with maintenance of the cemetery shall remain. Specifically, no items can be left in the grass, such as shepherd hooks, light fixtures, statuary or the placement of flowers other than for the Holiday exceptions listed below. These items cannot be protected from mowers and weed eaters and impede maintenance efforts.
Cemetery Clean up
FROM MARCH 1 TO OCTOBER 31 – Fresh cut flowers or small artificial bouquets will be permitted as grave decorations when the container is supported by the monument such as vases or saddles.
• EXCEPTIONS: On EASTER, MOTHER’S DAY, MEMORIAL DAY, and FATHER’S DAY other appropriate decorations may be used for one week only (such as Angel/Shepard Hooks, light fixtures, boxes, metal containers, potted plants and wreaths.) No glass will be permitted. Any decoration you wish to retain must be picked up within seven days after each of the above days or they will be REMOVED AND DISCARDED. All decorations will be removed unless in a permanent vase installed on the stone, foundation, or in saddles on the stones.
FROM NOVEMBER 1 TO FEBRUARY 28 – Any appropriate winter decorations may be used such as wreaths, blankets and artificial flowers. Decorations other than those permitted between March 1 and October 31 will be REMOVED AND DISCARDED at the beginning of the mowing season.
The City is not responsible for theft or damage to any personal property, including artifacts, personal effects, etc., placed on or near internment spaces or elsewhere in the Cemetery. This includes headstones and markers, which are owned by the family members. Repairs to headstones and markers are the responsibility of the family.
The City reserves a perpetual right of ingress and egress over interment spaces for the purpose of passage to and from other interment spaces and this right is also extended to those lawfully entitled.
Permits and Authorizations
The placement of mausoleums, vaults, monuments or markers require:
• Installation of all markers, monuments, vaults, mausoleums, vases and light fixtures is subject to consent of the Sexton.
Interments/Inurnments
• The Sexton shall be given twenty-four (24) hours’ notice in the summer and forty-eight (48) hours’ notice in the winter prior to grave opening and preparation of the interment.
• All grave openings and closings shall be made with the consent of the Sexton. Persons ordering grave openings will be held responsible for payment per the established fees and charges.
Monuments and Markers
No foundation or digging before first consulting the Sexton. All setting of monuments and markers and the transportation of all tools, material, etc., within the cemetery grounds shall be subject to the supervision and control of the Sexton. The monument company, with the consent of the Sexton, shall set all foundations. Monuments and markers will not be permitted on a lot until the lot is fully paid for. The Sexton reserves the right to refuse permission to erect any memorial not in keeping with the good appearance of the cemetery grounds such as marble, cement, concrete and/or wood.
Mausoleums
Complete architectural plans and specifications must be submitted to the City of Excelsior Springs Building Inspector upon application for a construction permit. Upon approval of the plans, a permit will be issued. Before a mausoleum is approved or constructed, a Trust Fund must be established with the Cemetery. The income from this Trust Fund will be used exclusively to maintain and care for the mausoleum. The amount of the fund will be determined by the City, but will not be less than 10 percent of the total cost of the lot and structure. Upon completion of any vault in the mausoleum, one key to each lock must be deposited in the City Manager’s office, to remain permanently in the custody of the Cemetery.
Removal of Markers
No monument or marker may be removed without an authorized written consent order on file in the City Manager’s office.
Design Plans, Specifications & Appropriate Materials
Interments/Inurnments
All interments shall be in a concrete vault. All inurnments shall be made in a permanent non-biodegradable type container.
Monuments and Markers
All monuments and markers must be of marble, granite or bronze. The cemetery reserves the right to require a larger and deeper foundation if deemed essential for permanency and safety. No foundations may be smaller than one foot square. Additional regulations are as follows:
• All foundations must be of concrete with three parts sand/gravel and one part cement unless otherwise instructed by the Sexton.
• Foundation must be at least 30″ deep.
• Depth of foundation applies to overall size.
• All markers at foot of graves must be ground level and without vases of any kind.
Mausoleums
All mausoleums shall be centered on the lot and face the front of the lot. All remains must be in separate crypts, which can be hermetically sealed to cemetery regulations. All mausoleums and monuments shall be set on foundations of solid masonry or concrete, which will not be less than four feet deep and not less in size than the base of the superstructure. All monument bases must be set in a bed of cement or mortar evenly covering the foundation. The first level of masonry above the foundation and all monument and other bases must be planed to an equal thickness. No building-up of underpinning with chips, rocks, cement or other material will be allowed. As a protection to lot owners and to guarantee the quality of work that is performed at the Cemetery, the cemetery reserves the right to excavate and build all foundations and to regular all work that is done in the cemetery.
Benches
Granite benches are permitted only if they are installed on a foundation in the space reserved for a monument. Benches will be considered a monument and will be subject to all rules applying to monuments.
Materials
Uniformity throughout the Cemetery must be maintained in the construction materials used on each lot. Any stone which varies substantially in color, texture, material, cut, size or design will not be accepted. The exterior and above ground portion of a vault, mausoleum, monument, or marker shall be constructed of granite or standard government bronze.
Workers
All workers employed on projects within the cemetery are subject to the control and direction of the City. Workers must not place materials on adjoining lots or leave materials on the ground longer than is absolutely necessary. All earth and rubbish accumulated during lot improvements must be removed under the direction of the Sexton at the expense of the lot owner. No unnecessary delay in work is permitted. All work must be completed and rubbish removed before noon on Saturday and prior to any day preceding a holiday, except when special permission is obtained from the Sexton. No monuments may be set after 4:30 p.m.
Construction Season
The Cemetery reserves the right to halt all construction work between November 1 and April 15. Foundations will not be built during freezing weather.
Deliveries
No deliveries of construction materials, etc. will be accepted on Saturday, Sunday, holidays or days preceding a holiday.
Quality Control
Only markers, monuments, mausoleums, vases or light fixtures of acceptable design, materials, workmanship and durability are permitted. If defects and/or deficiencies become apparent during installation, the work will be stopped and the defects/deficiencies corrected. If corrections cannot be made, or if the lot owner does not correct them within a reasonable time, the entire structure will be removed by Cemetery’s management at the lot owner’s expense.
Damage
Lot owners are liable for any damage to adjoining lots or other property in the cemetery caused by construction work on mausoleums, monuments, markers, etc. Vandalism or damage caused by forces beyond the control of Cemetery is the responsibility of the individual lot owner.
Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers
All landscaping, including the planting of trees and shrubs, will be done by the cemetery, unless the Sexton has given special permission.