Eternal Parking Place - Eternal Resting Place

December 1, 2008 4:19 AM

Paved Paradise: Cemeteries in Parking Lots.
posted by flapjax at midnite (28 comments total)

I mean, the good spots had already started going to the handicapped; it was only a matter of time before the dead horned in on the action, too.

SO true.
posted by gman at 4:31 AM on December 1, 2008

Damn, that is a fate worse than death.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:33 AM on December 1, 2008

make sure to read through the end with the example where the corpses (or where they would be) are now at parking level
posted by geos at 4:35 AM on December 1, 2008

When I'm dead I want them to dump my corpse in the woods. I'm dead, please don't build a shrine around me that will end up the centerpiece to a Home Depot parking lot. Have more respect for me than that.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:42 AM on December 1, 2008

Cool, there are a few of those around here. I went so far as to look up one of the deeds in the county records and contacted the family for permission to go in and clean up and take photos, but never heard back.
posted by JoanArkham at 4:46 AM on December 1, 2008

Ideal for people for who want to be buried in their cars.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:50 AM on December 1, 2008

Long-term lots are usually cheaper.
posted by gman at 4:50 AM on December 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oh-- dude, they built a mall on an Indian burial ground? There's the real cause of the economic crises. Fools!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:14 AM on December 1, 2008

They also built a nursery on an Indian burial ground and now there are no acorns. Coincidence? I think not.
posted by robtf3 at 5:21 AM on December 1, 2008

When I'm dead I want them to dump my corpse in the woods. I'm dead, please don't build a shrine around me that will end up the centerpiece to a Home Depot parking lot.

I wonder which total area is larger, cemetaries or parking lots. Has to be the latter and they are worse for the environment too.
posted by DU at 5:23 AM on December 1, 2008

The mausoleum in Decatur GA is big. In the picture you can make out the doorway in the side, which tells you that it's at least 10 feet tall. You can't see what's on top, except via Google Maps. The article links to some good pictures (including peaks up the stairwell), but misses out on more info and pics here and here (from the Wikipedia page). Rootsweb has an informative writeup. The local paper does a bit on it every couple years.

I'm really surprised that some oily lawyer hasn't figured out a way for the mall to weasel out of the commitment and bulldoze it.
posted by intermod at 5:27 AM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

This is a fascinatingly creepy collection. For some reason the overhead pictures are much more powerful than, I would presume, pictures taken at ground level. Perhaps it's the sense of scale.

Personally, I can't say I've ever seen a parking lot cemetary in person, but I have visited a parking lot in Hartford that had cars buried in it.

This strange little nugget of American public art was sadly demolished in 2003, but its story lives on.
posted by Spatch at 5:45 AM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Paving the way to paradise.
posted by gman at 6:06 AM on December 1, 2008

I'm really surprised that some oily lawyer hasn't figured out a way for the mall to weasel out of the commitment and bulldoze it.

I'm figuring more along the lines of the mall assessing the estate of the deceased for parking and snow removal. Got to think cash flow.
posted by ElvisJesus at 6:16 AM on December 1, 2008

Maybe the wal*mart was added to provide sustenance in the afterlife at low, low prices?
posted by davemee at 6:36 AM on December 1, 2008

This reminds me of this church in the middle of the harbour of Antwerp. The church is all that remains of the village of Wilmarsdonk, and the way I have heard the story told is that the demolition crews refused to destroy the church, so it now sits rather sadly between some industrial buildings...
posted by LVdB at 7:20 AM on December 1, 2008

Upon the day of rapture of our Lord, the faithful shall arise, and having, in foresight, attained appropriate accommodation for their flesh, be near to that one other being that they worship, the SUV, the chariot of fire, it shall await them.
posted by Binliner at 7:49 AM on December 1, 2008

So this is why the survivors are always holed up in a shopping mall in all those zombie flicks.
posted by mandal at 7:55 AM on December 1, 2008

By the year 2050, everything in the US will be surrounded by a parking lot.
posted by rhymer at 8:25 AM on December 1, 2008 [2 favorites]

In Soviet Union, Parking Lot buries YOU!


Wait, I don't think that works...
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:21 AM on December 1, 2008

I live close to the former Avondale Mall in Decatur, GA... now the Wal-Mart. When a friend shared about it, we checked it out. Really neat. There are a couple others, too. One up on LaVista in the Best Buy parking lot.

I always wonder if there are still relatives around to these folks.
posted by sadiehawkinstein at 10:16 AM on December 1, 2008

"You moved the headstones, but not the bodies!"
posted by FatherDagon at 10:21 AM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Once, when I was taking Vermont Transit from Boston to White River Junction, the bus driver pointed out a small graveyard between the north- and south-bound lanes. There was no way to get to it without dashing across the highway.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:42 AM on December 1, 2008

I'll just be cremated, thank you.

and my ashes will be scattered on your driveway
posted by davejay at 11:16 AM on December 1, 2008

oh my God! i live like twenty minutes from the Tulsa one! pictures to follow, MeFites!

how did I not know about this? Oklahoma is so weird.
posted by aliceinreality at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2008

Out here in the west you can find pioneer grave sites too. Unmarked, and fenced off. I seem to remember one in Truckee at some condos. Just a chained off area in the middle of the grassy area of the complex. No explanation.
posted by Eekacat at 11:50 AM on December 1, 2008

I've been to the New Brunswick, NJ one. First time I noticed it I was leaving the movies with a date. Wasn't sure if it was real or not, now I know the legend behind it.

My brother and I always thought the best solution would be to bury the dead on golf courses. You'd need 19 holes, so you can take one out of rotation for funerals, and would probably need to close certain hours/days for family, but otherwise we couldn't find an issue with it (unless you think golfers walking on your grave is an insult). Obviously, no headstones allowed, but maybe some sort of flat grave marker would be permitted.
posted by ShadowCrash at 12:11 PM on December 1, 2008

I am so used to seeing these around the GTA I never even thought they were unusal. My favourite one is located just south of Pearson Airport surrounded entirely by highways 401 and 427 (Richview). There is still access to it however and it is still maintained (although I am not sure if you can get buried there).
posted by saucysault at 5:59 PM on December 1, 2008