Restoration Project Brings New Life to Woodland Cemetery

One of Newark's most notorious eyesores is getting a makeover.

More than 80 volunteers and workers picked up trash, cut grass and cleared away fallen branches at the 38-acre Woodland Cemetery Monday as part of a two-day cleanup designed to restore the historic site to its original state. The project, which will continue Tuesday, was organized by the New Jersey Youth Corps (NJYC), a program within the International Youth Organization, and the Greater Newark Conservancy.

"For 40 years, this cemetery has gone to the tombs. It's an eyesore to the community," said Angel Vargas, one of the program's leaders. "There have been two to three murders here in the past ... drug dealers have gotten into that house (nearby). They're not leaving people who have died to rest in peace."

Beginning at 10 a.m., volunteers, including 35 ex-convicts from the Newark Prisoner Reentry Initiative (NPRI) and members of YouthBuild Newark, braved the soggy weather to erect crumbling tombstones and weed-whack the unruly grass that had grown over graves after years of disrepair. Dwindling funds and an apathetic former Woodland Cemetery Board of Trustees is to blame for the cemetery's lack of maintenance, according to Thomas Calcagni, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

"It's kind of a Catch-22," said Calcagni. "(Woodland Cemetery doesn't) have the money to maintain and upkeep the property and, as the property gets in further and further disrepair, it can't sell grave plots."

By law, each state cemetery must be licensed by the Division of Consumer Affairs and must maintain a maintenance and preservation fund to care for the site.

A once pristine site founded as the West Newark Cemetery in 1855, the burial grounds reportedly were blighted by vandalism in the 1960s and the desecration of thousands of historic plots.

"We exercised our oversight over the (former) board of trustees here," said Calcagni. "We were disgusted by the inactivity by the board over the years in addressing the problems with the cemetery."

The area surrounding Woodland Cemetery, which has more than 82,000 grave sites, including those of Civil War and World War I soldiers, has been marred by reports of prostitution, drug use and crime. The burned body of an Irvington man was found on Rose Street across from the cemetery last April and 15-year-old Yusef Johnson was found shot to death in 2005 on the corner of Rose and Bergen streets.

But the state of the cemetery seems to be improving. Earlier this month, NPRI's Clean & Green Team spent six days scouring nearly 25 acres leading up to the two-day cleanup, according to Carlos Hidalgo, NPRI program manager. Clean & Green Team members earn $8 an hour for their hard work.

"It was a lot, but we're here again to show support for the community," said Hidalgo. "We use it as a training course/work period. So (the workers) get a bit of training and actual hands-on experience."

Workers from the Greater Newark Conservancy commended the cleanup for being an all-around effort that benefits the entire community.

"I'm happy to see these guys here that we're mentoring, a lot of them have their head on right," said Huey Hodges, who works at the Greater Newark Conservancy. "They're working and learning, earning their GEDs. Ain't nobody force you to do nothing. You gotta do it by yourself. Change is only from within."