Parkview Cemetery and Crematorium in Waterloo held an open house on Saturday.
The event unveiled five of an eventual eight acres of development that the community can now enjoy.
With the expansion came nearly 2,000 traditional casket burial locations, areas for future cremation development, and 108 green burial sites.
“We’re one of only six recognized green burial sites in all of Ontario,” said Bryce Crouse, Manager of Cemetery Services at the City of Waterloo.
The area will boast a communal memorial for those buried there instead of the traditional personalized method.
Those buried there will not have preservatives or embalming fluid used, and their caskets will not be lacquered or contain any metal. This way, they will break down over time with less of a carbon footprint.
The cemetery gave out over 300 perennial plants to those who attended.
Also in attendance were bird experts to speak of the two resident osprey nests in the park, horticulturalists, and members of the Urban Death Project, who advocate composting bodies.
Development began in 2012, with construction starting in 2016.
The open house was originally supposed to take place in 2017, but was pushed back due to plant growth delays.
