Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum will celebrate its 163rd anniversary by hosting its third annual “Behind Closed Doors” event on Sept. 2.
The event will offer people a look into select private family mausoleums that are typically closed to visitors, along with guided tours and the premiere of an original documentary film.
Crown Hill Cemetery contains approximately 80 private family mausoleums that remain locked to the public throughout the year. For the event, three of the mausoleums will be unlocked, allowing visitors to inspect their internal artwork and learn about the architecture and family histories associated with each structure.
David Rieck, president of Crown Hill Cemetery and Foundation, joined Daybreak on Tuesday to explain the event and the concept behind opening the closed spaces.
“Our Behind Closed Doors event, it’s the third annual, and what we do, we kind of give people a behind-the-scenes look at Crown Hill,” Rieck said. “These mausoleums, because they’re so unique to each family, the inside of these are, they’re actually pretty incredible. They’re little pieces of artwork almost. And the stories behind them are also just as fascinating as the building itself.”
The open house will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Admission is restricted to people ages 21 and older. Tickets cost $125 per person and must be purchased online prior to the event and include all food and beverages, including an open bar.
The celebration will also mark the debut of a documentary film titled “The Resting Place.” Developed over nearly two years by artists in the cemetery’s artist-in-residence program, the film combines stop-motion photography with an original musical soundtrack composed using sounds recorded on the cemetery grounds.
Rieck described the premiere of the project: “It’s a documentary on Crown Hill, but it uses stop motion photography and music that was composed using sounds of Crown Hill,” Rieck said. “They are just finishing up the film. It will be premiered at Crown Hill, and then they’re actually going to submit it to various film festivals and things like that.”
The film will screen three times during the evening, with showtimes set for 5:45 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. People can also participate in 30-minute guided tours highlighting notable locations around the Gothic Chapel, scheduled for 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
You can buy tickets online here
This article was written by WISHTV reporter Hanna Mordoh.
