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City staff urge archaeological survey before paving informal path by Bay Path Cemetery
Summary
City parks staff told councilors that a wooded, informal 'cut‑through' adjacent to Bay Path Cemetery in Blunt Park could overlap historic burial ground and that a site survey and archaeological work — including ground‑penetrating radar — are required before any paving; staff estimated preliminary costs at about $150,000.
Springfield City officials said they will require a site survey and archaeological review before turning an informal dirt cut‑through next to Bay Path Cemetery in Blunt Park into a paved, ADA‑accessible walkway.
At a Feb. 12 maintenance meeting, Laura Walsh of the parks department described the path as a wooded 'boot' that residents use to connect the neighborhood to the park and to Roosevelt Avenue near the Ray Jordan Center. Walsh said staff found a granite slab in the walking line and cannot confirm whether the slab or other features are part of the cemetery.
"We would need to do some surveying and then an archaeological study…probably having to do some additional ground penetrating radar," Walsh said, adding that Bay Path Cemetery contains about 900 interments dating roughly from the 1870s to about 1951.…
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