[StBernard] Work at Chalmette National Cemetery to close cemetery, loop road at battlefield site

[Westley Annis]

Work at Chalmette National Cemetery to close cemetery, loop road at
battlefield site
by The Times-Picayune 
Tuesday January 27, 2009, 3:01 PM
The National Park Service has begun restoration work at Chalmette National
Cemetery, which sustained significant damage from flooding during Hurricane
Katrina.

The work has forced the park service to close the cemetery and the popular
tour loop road at the larger Chalmette Battlefield site, which includes the
cemetery and Chalmette Battlefield. 

The battlefield, visitor's center and restrooms will remain open while the
cemetery restoration work goes on, the park service said in a news release. 

The site on West St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette was flooded during
Katrina. The soaking caused many cemetery markers to tilt, crack and break.
Nearly one third of the brick walls surrounding the cemetery also collapsed.


Walls, wiring, roofing and floors at the cemetery's old superintendent's
lodge and carriage house also were destroyed and are being restored, the
news release said. 

Restoration on the cemetery wall, which dates to 1873, will be time
consuming. Bricks will be salvaged and cleaned for use in rebuilding the
wall, and the mortar will be analyzed so that workers can create "compatible
historic mortars" to those used in the 1800s, the news release said. 

The tour loop road is being closed because it will be used by the
restoration company. 

Cemetery access is available by appointment. Call 504.589.3882, Ext. 121. 

For more information on the project, call 504.281.0511 or visit
www.nps.gov/jela.