Gates indicate the entrance of Soldotna Community Memorial Park on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Gates indicate the entrance of Soldotna Community Memorial Park on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s cemetery expanding

The expansion is expected to add 20 years worth of capacity to the existing cemetery.

Nearly 400 new cemetery plots will become available at the Soldotna Community Memorial Park as part of expansion efforts that the city said last week were “nearing completion.”

The cemetery — Soldotna’s first when it was developed in 2011 — has spaces for traditional burial plots as well as a columbarium, a veteran’s memorial and spaces for deceased children. That’s all in addition to a memorial wall bearing the names of past citizens who did not have the option of being buried in a Soldotna cemetery.

The cemetery is located off W. Redoubt Avenue and features an overlook of the Kenai River that is next to a “scatter garden” where people can scatter cremains.

The city said in a release that the expansion is expected to add 20 years worth of capacity to the existing cemetery, which was Soldotna’s first when it was developed in 2011. Included in future visions for the cemetery, which has four phases according to the Soldotna Community Memorial Park Master Plan, is further development of the site’s overlook of the Kenai River and continued expansion of the cemetery’s capacity.

The expansion work underway in Soldotna — described by Phase II of the master plan — is concentrated mostly at the northern end of the cemetery.

Cemetery expansion efforts are similarly underway in Kenai, where an expansion that will bring about 75 new plots is scheduled to open next spring. Kenai currently has a moratorium on the sale of standard cemetery plots that was approved by the Kenai City Council in 2017 due to an “extremely limited” number of plots.

More information on the Soldotna Community Memorial Park can be found at soldotna.org/government/city-clerk/community-memorial-park.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

The Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River near the Russian River Campground on March 15, 2020, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Russian River Campground closed for construction

The campground is expected to reopen on June 2

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Fish and Game announces series of closures and restrictions for king salmon fisheries

Cook Inlet king salmon stocks are experiencing a prolonged period of poor productivity, the department said

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Most Read