Several investors are expected to bid at a public auction for the right to purchase two cemeteries where the interred are predominately Black.
Several investors are expected to bid at a public auction for the right to purchase two cemeteries where the interred are predominately Black. The opening bid for the 105-acre Burr Oak Cemetery in south suburban Alsip and the nearby 90-acre Cedar Park Cemetery & Funeral Home in Calumet Park is $675,000. Earlier this month a bankruptcy judge approved the opening bid made by Black-owned Cemecare, a partnership between Lafayette Gatling Sr., owner of Gatling’s Community Development Inc. in south suburban Oak Forest and Willie Carter, owner of Restvale Cemetery in Alsip. Gatling declined comment and Carter did not return phone calls seeking comment. Cemecare’s bid would allow the partnership to purchase Burr Oak for $25,000 and Cedar Park for $650,000. However, should a higher bid be made then Cemecare would have to submit a new bid to purchase the cemeteries, explained Howard Korenthal, who was appointed chief operating officer for Burr Oak by a bankruptcy judge in September. “The properties will go to the highest bidder, so if an offer comes in at $1 million then Cemecare would have to make a higher offer to acquire the properties,” he told the Defender. A bankruptcy judge is expected to approve the winning bid at a Tuesday court hearing. Both cemeteries are owned by Perpetua Inc, which filed bankruptcy in 2009 after several lawsuits were filed against the owner for neglect. Burr Oak made headlines last spring when four employees there were arrested and charged with a gravesite-reselling scheme. The cemetery is famous for those buried there, such as civil rights icon Emmett Till and singer Dinah Washington. Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
