Cheltenham Cemetery investing $2 million in mausoleum in response to demand

Not keen on spending eternity six feet under? An Adelaide cemetery is selling plots in a multimillion-dollar mausoleum now under construction.

Artist's impression of the $2 million mausoleum under construction at the Cheltenham Cemetery

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A $2 million mausoleum, featuring imported Italian fittings, is being built on the last vacant site within Cheltenham Cemetery.

The mausoleum, on the cemetery’s eastern side, will contain 96 companion and 16 single sites and is expected to be completed by September 2020.

The Adelaide Cemeteries Authority says it is the only development of its type in Adelaide’s western suburbs.

CEO Robert Pitt said more than 10 per cent of spaces had been sold “off the plan”.

“A workshop that was previously on site has been relocated to a property across the

road to make way for the mausoleum,” he said.

“The mausoleum will be completed to a very high standard with the use of polished

granite and premium imported Italian fittings, vigil lights and embellishments.

“It is designed to provide a modern, European tone and will be landscaped to create

an air of understated prestige.”

Artist's impression of the $2 million mausoleum under construction at the Cheltenham Cemetery

A mausoleum differs from traditional burial in that bodies are stored above ground in a crypt or burial compartments.

Mr Pitt said the decision to build the mausoleum followed market research which indicated significant demand for such a facility in Adelaide’s west.

“The new mausoleum will provide families with more choice for remembering their

loved ones,” he said.

Mr Pitt said sites within the mausoleum were available “off the plan”.

“Unlike other mausoleums, the memorialisation embellishments on each crypt are

inclusive in the price, not additional extras,” he said.

A companion crypt costs $77,000, including a 99-year lease.

ACA expanded its mausoleum at Enfield in 2015 to cater for demand, particularly from the Italian community.