Heavy rains earlier this week have again raised concerns about water damage and flooding inside a mausoleum on the grounds of a Niagara Falls cemetery that has been the subject of complaints in recent months.
Water once again seeped into the Pieta Mausoleum at St. Joseph’s Cemetery off Pine Avenue on Tuesday, a soggy day punctuated by periods of heavy rain.
People with loved ones buried or interred at St. Joseph’s have previously voiced concerns about the condition of the mausoleum’s roof.
Debbie Laurendi, a Falls native and Florida resident whose parents, Frank and Barbara Magliarditi, were interred in the mausoleum, said the roof needs a full replacement.
At this late point in the year, she said she and others concerned about its condition are now focusing on compelling management to at least move forward with a temporary fix for the roof. Laurendi said representatives from the city’s inspections department visited the cemetery grounds in August and issued a violation notice due to the condition of the mausoleum’s roof. In her view, the temporary fix can’t wait.
“Our sense of urgency is that now we are into weather,” Laurendi said. “We were fortunate to have a dry summer. Now we are into fall and rain and snow and there’s been no temporary fix.”
“We probably have a month before we have to wait until spring,” she added. “If that water is coming down like it is, we don’t know the integrity of the crypts. We don’t know about the structural integrity, but I can tell you it’s going to be a mess in there after a few days of rain.”
The cemetery, located at 3608 Pine Ave. in the city, was established in May of 1920 under the Rev. Austin Billerio, the third pastor of St. Joseph Church. He led a campaign to raise the $12,000 needed to buy the initial tract of 11 acres of land. Today, the cemetery grounds cover 17 acres where there are about 13,000 graves, 1,968 crypts and “niches” for above-ground burial. The cemetery is also home to four mausoleums, including Pieta.
Cemetery operations are overseen by a board under the auspices of the church itself. St. Joe’s is independent of Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Buffalo, a separate organization that operates Catholic cemeteries in other communities in Western New York.
The church’s legal counsel Angelo Massaro said in a brief telephone interview that he was aware of an ongoing effort to repair the mausoleum’s roof. He referred additional questions to Father Mario Racho, the church’s priest. Racho did not respond to requests for comment.