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The newly reconstructed Riverside Cemetery Association Board spent considerable time discussing its future at last Thusday’s meeting. Among the topics was the dilapodated house situated on cemetery property.
Andy Hatton, the son of board member Bill Hatton, was living in the house with his family rent-free in exchange for keeping an eye on the cemetery and keeping potential vandals out. But now that Andy Hatton has moved out, the house sits vacant and the board members are left with decisions to make.
“I just don’t feel safe putting some other family in the house,” Max Capp, the board’s vice president said Monday. “I would rather see it go. It’s kind of an eyesore. It’d be much prettier without it there.”
However, John Hawkins, a self-employed construction worker from Perry, is offering to rehab the house cheaply. Remodeling, he said, is the main operation of his business.
“I’ve never seen the house,” Hawkins said. “I was going by the articles in the paper. I would donate materials, and to an extent, I would donate time. Obviously, I just can’t shut down my business and come out there and work on it. I am not looking at this as a money-making project.”
The house would have to be brought back up to city code and be awarded a permit that would allow the structure to be lived in. After going over all those processes last week, board members and concerned lot owners and citizens in the crowd decided that demolition of the house would be the best option.
Yet, that alone could also be a challenge for the governing body trying to get things back in order at the historic burial ground that is the final resting place for famous figures William Henry Hatch and Baseball Hall of Famer Jake Beckley, just to name a couple.
“I went and looked at the house Saturday and I believe it’s not going to be inhabitable,” Capp said. “I think it’d be really hard to get the kind of permit to allow the electric to be turned on. I do believe for the best interests of the cemetery, and its appearance, that it should be removed.
“The only way it’s going to be removed is through donations or a demolition company willing to donate their services to have it done.”
Other options in demolishing the house include asking Amish workers who would work for free, but would keep pieces of the home for themselves, like wood, windows and other materials. At the meeting, the thought of donating the house to the Hannibal Fire Department for firemen training was also discussed.
“If they’re satisfied with the direction they’re going, that’s fine. I just was going to throw it up in the air and see if anybody was interested,” Hawkins said. “The other thing I was looking at, I don’t know how big a house it is, is that this is a fairly isolated cemetery and if it was constructionally sound without completely rehabbing it as living quarters – might be able to be made into a place where if the weather was inclement, they could do the service inside and at least have a public restroom there.”
Bill Hatton said he’d contact Hawkins and invite him to the next board meeting later this month.
In the meantime, keeping unwanted guests out of the cemetery is the next concern for board members when it comes to the house.
Andy Hatton moved out mid-September, however, a fresh loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and other boxed foods are stored in the kitchen pantry.
Bill Hatton and others are left to surmise that the homeless are sleeping there at night.
“Its my assumption, because nothing was left in there,” Bill Hatton said. “Somebody else has moved all that garbage and all that other stuff in there. It’s common knowledge now. All the homeless guys and the all the dopers go to Riverside Cemetery now at night, there’s no body there. It’s kind of open season.”
The newly reconstructed Riverside Cemetery Association Board spent considerable time discussing its future at last Thusday’s meeting. Among the topics was the dilapodated house situated on cemetery property.
Andy Hatton, the son of board member Bill Hatton, was living in the house with his family rent-free in exchange for keeping an eye on the cemetery and keeping potential vandals out. But now that Andy Hatton has moved out, the house sits vacant and the board members are left with decisions to make.
“I just don’t feel safe putting some other family in the house,” Max Capp, the board’s vice president said Monday. “I would rather see it go. It’s kind of an eyesore. It’d be much prettier without it there.”
However, John Hawkins, a self-employed construction worker from Perry, is offering to rehab the house cheaply. Remodeling, he said, is the main operation of his business.
“I’ve never seen the house,” Hawkins said. “I was going by the articles in the paper. I would donate materials, and to an extent, I would donate time. Obviously, I just can’t shut down my business and come out there and work on it. I am not looking at this as a money-making project.”
The house would have to be brought back up to city code and be awarded a permit that would allow the structure to be lived in. After going over all those processes last week, board members and concerned lot owners and citizens in the crowd decided that demolition of the house would be the best option.
Yet, that alone could also be a challenge for the governing body trying to get things back in order at the historic burial ground that is the final resting place for famous figures William Henry Hatch and Baseball Hall of Famer Jake Beckley, just to name a couple.
“I went and looked at the house Saturday and I believe it’s not going to be inhabitable,” Capp said. “I think it’d be really hard to get the kind of permit to allow the electric to be turned on. I do believe for the best interests of the cemetery, and its appearance, that it should be removed.
“The only way it’s going to be removed is through donations or a demolition company willing to donate their services to have it done.”
Other options in demolishing the house include asking Amish workers who would work for free, but would keep pieces of the home for themselves, like wood, windows and other materials. At the meeting, the thought of donating the house to the Hannibal Fire Department for firemen training was also discussed.
“If they’re satisfied with the direction they’re going, that’s fine. I just was going to throw it up in the air and see if anybody was interested,” Hawkins said. “The other thing I was looking at, I don’t know how big a house it is, is that this is a fairly isolated cemetery and if it was constructionally sound without completely rehabbing it as living quarters – might be able to be made into a place where if the weather was inclement, they could do the service inside and at least have a public restroom there.”
Bill Hatton said he’d contact Hawkins and invite him to the next board meeting later this month.
In the meantime, keeping unwanted guests out of the cemetery is the next concern for board members when it comes to the house.
Andy Hatton moved out mid-September, however, a fresh loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and other boxed foods are stored in the kitchen pantry.
Bill Hatton and others are left to surmise that the homeless are sleeping there at night.
“Its my assumption, because nothing was left in there,” Bill Hatton said. “Somebody else has moved all that garbage and all that other stuff in there. It’s common knowledge now. All the homeless guys and the all the dopers go to Riverside Cemetery now at night, there’s no body there. It’s kind of open season.”
