SPRING GROVE CEMETERY HISTORIC STRUCTURES UPDATE

After over three years, the historic building restoration projects for Spring Grove Cemetery structures are nearly complete. Frost Architectural Preservation has been working on both the exterior and interior of the mausoleum. The exterior work involved steam cleaning the limestone and repairing the mortar, following the specifications prepared by Prospectus Architecture, which were initiated in 2019. When Frost began work on the exterior in 2025, they discovered further deterioration of the mortar, which required additional removal and repair. The exterior work concluded in late fall and then moved to the interior of the mausoleum.

Before Frost began the interior restoration, cemetery staff had removed most of the aluminum siding drop ceiling that had been installed decades ago, likely to conceal damaged plaster and collect leaks. This removal exposed cracks and fissures in the plaster ceiling that attaches to the cement roof. The south section of the ceiling still had water-damaged plaster, but was repairable. On the north side, the plaster had already been removed when the aluminum was installed. The central entry ceiling had areas of both intact and deteriorated plaster. It should be noted that all repairs adhered to the recommendations of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior Preservation Briefs. After all repairs were done to the existing plaster, those areas were painted with a specialty paint. The side without plaster had numerous cracks in the cement ceiling that were repaired. Following this, a metal plaster mesh was installed, anchoring the mesh with masonry screws. The plaster was slightly modified with Portland cement to create a more durable material that will resist moisture. Once this was done, it too was painted. Friends of the Cemetery also had Frost install a period-appropriate chandelier in the central entry, which tends to be dark on cloudy days. The final work was repointing the marble walls inside the mausoleum. Once all work was finished, the protective coverings on the sidewalls and flooring were removed and cleaned.

The mausoleum restoration has been a huge undertaking by the Friends of the Cemetery, lasting over three years. We thank Forest Historic Roofing and Frost Architectural Preservation for their hard work and due diligence in completing this project successfully.