KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Walking through Elmwood Cemetery, you’ll notice several prominent Kansas City names buried there.
Names like Jacob Loose, who Loose Park is named after, Kirkland Armour and Mary Atkins, who contributed to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, to name a few.
"Oh, you never stop learning," volunteer and Cemetery Board President, John Weilert said. "That’s the best part about volunteering here is the stories."
Telling the story of Kansas City, the historical cemetery goes all the way back to 1872. Now parts of it, are starting to show off their age.
"One of the missions that we have here at Elmwood is to make capital improvements where necessary," said Weilert.
Weilert said the biggest issue right now is the wall located on the west side of the cemetery, is now a safety concern.
“It's hard not to notice if you're close to the wall, it's leaning,” Weilert said.
Engineers said it needs immediate attention.
“I asked him the estimate about how long we had before the wall might fall and his response was 'it's falling now, it just hasn't landed yet.' So we need to get on it,” Weilert said.
Weilert said it’s also a matter of preservation; keeping the property in a more respectful condition.
“If that wall were to fall, these monuments are monuments of children who passed away in the 1920s,” Weilert said.
The cost to fix this wall is roughly $100,000. Weilert said they’re working on creative fundraising efforts to help fund the project.
For more information, check out elmwoodcem-kc.org.
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