Touring this building was an interesting experience. For a new building (corner stone laid in 1963), it has the feeling of being in existence for a long time. The stained glass is wonderful - and seeing the 3 different types of stained glass - leaded glass, glass in sand, and ground glass with ground precious stones - with the different effects that they cast was fascinating. Stained glass in evening light casts a mystical, other-worldly feel. It did have the odor of an ancient church basement or cellar with a little incense thrown in. This building could easily become a "high-rise" mausoleum if they utilize the tower - good use of space - more interments per square foot.
The funerary urns on display is something that I have never seen before. I had a home-health patient that had her husband's urn on the mantle piece, but to have special cases to display in the mausoleum to display urns is an interesting concept. For whom are they displayed?
Ryan's point, in our discussion after touring the mausoleum, that Spring Grove is a business and has to market itself and make money to perpetuate this wonderful setting, is so very true. I have been absorbing the atmosphere, the plantings, the monuments, the experience of evening...even though it is a place where time has no meaning, there are still the bills to pay to keep Spring Grove intact and a business to run.
In one of the last side aisles that we toured, I saw the marker with a name that I recognized. I was a member of the choir that sang for her funeral mass....
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How interesting to have found a personal connection. Makes it seems less like a "museum" and more like a place with real people who lived and died. Spring Grove has so much beauty we can forget its function... maybe that is on purpose.
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