DEERFIELD — Old Albany Road’s cemetery will soon be looking refreshed.
The historic cemetery’s gravestones will be professionally restored by New Hampshire-based Gravestone Services of New England — which submitted the lowest estimate of two bids, procured with help from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
On Wednesday, the town’s Selectboard unanimously voted to award a $44,500 cemetery restoration contract to the gravestone restoration business.
Town Administrator Wendy Foxmyn said the project will be funded through a $10,000 donation from Deerfield Academy, with the rest approved through the Community Preservation Committee. Foxmyn noted about $53,000 total was set aside for the project, so there’s more left over.
“This company is the one that did the work to Sugarloaf Street Cemetery,” said Historical Commission representative Jane Trigere, referring to Gravestone Services of New England, and noted projects in eight other cemeteries the company has also completed.
Of the town’s 13 cemeteries, Old Albany Road’s cemetery, she continued, needs restoration work the most.
“We made a point, this was a couple years back, of doing three to five of the worst stones in each cemetery. And it was clear in our walking around, the one that needed work, was Old Albany Road,” Trigere said.