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Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam awarded grant to preserve towers, gates

Posted 12/10/22

Bayside Cemetery has been awarded a grant of $32,900 from the Rock Charitable Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation to support the preservation of cemetery gates and towers. Above, the …

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Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam awarded grant to preserve towers, gates

Posted

Bayside Cemetery has been awarded a grant of $32,900 from the Rock Charitable Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation to support the preservation of cemetery gates and towers. Above, the towers have been temporarily shrouded to prevent further water penetration. Photo Submitted by Michael Griffin.

POTSDAM – The Bayside Cemetery in Potsdam has been awarded a grant of $32,900 from the Rock Charitable Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation to support the preservation of cemetery gates and towers.

"We are very grateful to the Rock Charitable Fund and the Northern New York Community Foundation for their support of this historically vital project," said Mark Lee, president of the Bayside Cemetery Association board of trustees. "Their generous support will enable us to preserve this legacy of the early development of Potsdam."

The structures are built of Potsdam sandstone from the Clarkson family quarries and were completed in 1910 at the behest of the Clarkson family. In the ensuing 110 years, the freeze-thaw cycles of North Country winters have taken their toll on the masonry and stability of towers and gates. "Water has penetrated into the interior of the towers and as a result of the winter freeze-thaw cycles, the stability of the towers is in jeopardy," says Lee.

The cemetery contracted with Lupini Construction of Utica, a firm specializing in historic masonry reconstruction, to develop a plan for the restoration of Bayside Cemetery’s gates and towers. Lupini has been involved in other historic restoration projects locally including Trinity Church in Potsdam.

The first stage of the plan was the shrouding of the towers to prevent further water penetration. The next phase of this project will be to mortar and seal all skyward-facing surfaces, to replace crumbling mortar in the towers, and to epoxy-inject any crumbling stones.

The efforts to restore the sandstone gates and towers are meeting with success. "Including the Rock Charitable Fund grant, we have raised $77,900 in grants toward this effort," says Lee. "These grants combined with more than $38,000 raised from our regular donors and trustees and our community-wide appeal, which found 70 new donors, is allowing us to close in on the $112,380 cost of the second phase of the restoration process of these wonderful historic structures."

Donations to Bayside Cemetery are accepted online at HYPERLINK "http://baysidepotsdam.org/donate"baysidepotsdam.org/donate or by mail at PO Box 491, Potsdam, NY 13676. As a 501(c)(13) nonprofit cemetery organization, contributions are tax-deductible, as allowed by law.

The Rock Charitable Fund was established at the Northern New York Community Foundation in 2019 through a bequest from St. Lawrence County resident and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Marjorie J. Rock, who passed away in February 2017 at the age of 96.

Grant funding is available to qualified charitable organizations, houses of worship, cemeteries, or governmental entities that serve St. Lawrence County residents and whose missions and efforts align with the fund’s charitable purposes: the maintenance and preservation of churches, houses of worship, and cemeteries in St. Lawrence County; the preservation and maintenance of places of legitimate historical significance in the county; and to benefit or assist veterans of the United States military with their medical or recreational needs who live in St. Lawrence County.