Trail, Cemetery Compromise Must Be Found

One of the most peaceful vistas in Spokane stretches out across the river west of downtown and overlooks a cemetery.

Quiet, green and ordered, a cemetery makes an excellent neighbor.

Noise, traffic and rowdy behavior are kept to a minimum.

Once the snow clears, walkers,joggers and cyclists enjoy traveling and training on roadways that overlook the river and quiet trees and plots beyond it.

Getting into shape while looking at a cemetery provokes much thought about the meaning of life or at least the need to cut down on the fast foods.

A highlight of running Bloomsday always is mile 3, the one that passes through the cemeteries along Government Way.

One of the most popular spots on the Centennial Trail is the stretch that traverses the cemetery below the Mukogawa Ft. Wright campus.

This mixing of the active living with the resting dead has not proved to be a problem in most instances.

Therefore, I was surprised a few days ago to learn the board of directors of Fairmount Memorial Association, which oversees management of four Spokane cemeteries, voted against allowing the Centennial Trail to pass along one edge of the Riverside Memorial Park cemetery.

This new stretch of trail would run along the boundary of the Riverside Memorial cemetery that juts out into the Spokane River a mile downstream from the Monroe Street Bridge.

The proposed pathway would not be visible from the cemetery, except for a few hundred yards where there currently are no burial plots.

But Duane Broyles, executive director of the cemetery association, said the board feared jogging, roller-blading and bicycling in the vicinity of the dead would violate the serenity of the setting.

“People come here in grief and most want to be left alone,” Broyles explained. “Since this came out we’ve had calls from lot owners at the cemetery saying they totally support our position to not allow the centennial trail.”

A tension between two deeply-held human emotions seems to be at work here.

Most of us probably have imagined our final resting place being a quiet plot next to a river. Hence, three of the city’s largest cemeteries are near the river.

At the same time, most of us also relish the renewing energy afforded by walking, running or riding along the riverbank. (Note the tremendous tourist attraction that has been created by the raging runoff in the last few weeks.)

University of Washington researchers have published a fascinating selection of essays about the biological roots of our love for such places.

The research suggests parks, resorts and cemeteries, mimic the landscape where early humans are believed to have originated.

Trees alternating with clearings, preferably with a waterfront, usually are rated highest by people when they are asked to describe the most desirable place they can imagine to live and relax.

Small wonder, then, the centennial trail’s supporters zeroed in on a route by the river, next to the treed savannah of the cemetery.

And, no surprise that the board of the cemetery said, in effect, sorry, we were at this nice place first.

If people could vote on whether to allow the centennial trail to wind along the cemetery, what would the result be?

No one knows for sure.

“We have relied on our own experiences and instincts,” said cemetery executive director Broyles. “Some of the board has been involved in cemetery operations from the 40s and we believe we have to trust our instincts.”

Supporters of the centennial trail aren’t as sure about these instincts.

For one thing, users of the centennial trail have produced records showing few instances of vandalism or disruption along the more than 30 miles of trail that run through neighborhoods, parks and a college campus east of downtown Spokane.

The trail, in fact, has itself become a place where people often go to contemplate nature in a quiet way.

The cemetery board doesn’t want to offend the families of those whose loved ones are at rest in Riverside Memorial Park.

That’s understandable.

But in truth, they don’t know whether people would be offended. No polls or organized effort to gauge opinions has been undertaken.

The families of those with loved ones in Riverside Memorial Park can help this process.

Before the plan to route the trail along the cemetery boundary is lost, these families might consider whether the cemetery board has, in fact, acted in their interests.

The families might think about this: At some level, a cemetery and the centennial trail speak to the same emotions in the human soul.

Each is a place that can honor natural beauty, offer a sense of tranquillity, and give us a place to contemplate life, death and the river that connects them.

, DataTimes MEMO: Chris Peck is the Editor of The Spokesman-Review. His column appears each Sunday on the Perspective page.