Sep. 29—After years of financially turbulent private ownership, the cemetery at Cullman Memory Gardens has been donated to a local board of directors appointed by the Alabama Legislature, and will henceforth be owned and operated as a nonprofit public entity.

The five-member board, created by a 2016 bill sponsored by Alabama House Rep. Randall Shedd (R-Fairview), announced its membership this week after the final transaction delivering the cemetery's oversight to the body was completed. The locally seated board consists of Cullman County residents Ron Foust, Austin Hall, Jerry Smith, Amy Walker and Neal Culpepper.

Maintenance and grounds care at the south Cullman cemetery had languished off and on in recent years, as out-of-state corporate owners managed the site from afar and, through two bankruptcies and the ensuing handover of corporate custody, allowed the cemetery to fall into disrepair. In the absence of consistently managed upkeep, local volunteers had attempted to maintain the grounds during the past several years, until the board arranged a temporary lease agreement as the final terms of the most recent bankruptcy were dispensed.

"I think the cemetery is in good hands now," said Shedd, who was part of the initial 2016 legislative effort to place its ownership under the new board structure. "Every member of the board has family and loved ones there. I can't say enough good things about how they've worked to improve thing at the cemetery and give it a much brighter future than it has had."

Alabama House Rep. Corey Harbison (R-Good Hope), whose district encompasses the Memory Gardens property, said the agreement represents a collaborative local legislative effort that dates back several years. "We have been trying to get local control over the cemetery for a long time, because it's been such an issue for so long for everyone who has family and friends there," said Harbison. "No one wants to go to the cemetery and see it in the condition that it was once in, and our delegation believed that having local control over it would bring some stability and local accountability that the cemetery, and the local families who have an interest in it, have deserved all along." Located along Bolte Road, Memory Gardens currently sites approximately 1,000 graves, including those of nearly 400 local veterans. As part of the private bankruptcy agreement, the property was donated to the board with no additional financial obligation from local taxpayers, Harbison noted.

"Our community can take comfort in knowing, even though the past has been marked with unfortunate for-profit bad operators, that will never happen again now that Cullman Memory Gardens is owned and will be operated locally," the board said in a press release this week. "Anyone making donations for improvements or purchasing lots can now know 100 percent will be used for maintaining and improving the cemetery and mausoleums."

The nonprofit is currently establishing a phone number for local inquiries about purchasing Memory Gardens gravesites and accepting donations for upkeep and maintenance. In the meantime, contact the cemetery via email at cullmanmemorygarden@gmail.com.

Benjamin Bullard can be reached by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 234.