Parking an issue as Shaler commissioners approve mausoleum expansion

The Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Pittsburgh is preparing to expand a mausoleum at St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery along Soose Road in Shaler.

Shaler commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 9, approved construction of the 3,600-square-foot addition, conditioned on the provision of 16 parking spaces or the association seeking a variance for the number from the township’s Zoning Hearing Board.

Commissioner William Cross was absent.

Joe Huber, director of family services for the cemeteries association, and Tysen Miller, the project engineer with KU Resources, argued against the need for that many parking spaces based on the mausoleum’s use, the size of its assembly area and the experience of how many have been needed at four similar mausoleums in Robinson, Moon, Penn Hills and Richland.

The existing mausoleum has only two parking spaces, Miller said, adding he believed four would be an appropriate number.

Parking has never been a problem at the existing mausoleum, Huber said.

Shaler Solicitor Anna Jewart said commissioners are constrained to follow the requirements of the township’s ordinances, and that any “flexibility” would have to come from a variance.

Vehicles can be accommodated on a loop road that leads to and from the existing mausoleum, Miller said. He said the road is wide enough to mark parking spaces along it.

The Polish St. Stanislaus parish in Downtown Pittsburgh established its 118-acre cemetery in 1867. Around the same time, a German parish, St. Anthony in Millvale, created a 6.5-acre cemetery next to it. St. Stanislaus Cemetery became part of the Catholic Cemeteries Association in 1968, followed by St. Anthony in 1978, and the two cemeteries now are managed as one.

Huber said the mausoleum, located at the northern end of the cemetery and dedicated in March 2003, was built with the expectation that it would be expanded in the future. Expansions are pursued when a mausoleum is at least 80% full, he said.

A third expansion also is contemplated.

The existing building includes 690 crypt and niche spaces; niches are intended for cremated remains.

The addition would add 462 crypts and 312 niches, he said.

Most of the expansion’s 3,600 square feet is taken up by crypts, Miller said. The assembly area, also called a meditation area, is about 1,600 square feet, Miller said.

While Huber could not break down the number of crypts and niches in the original mausoleum, he said the addition contains more niches than the original building, reflecting the increased interest in cremation.

Earlier this year, the mausoleum was renamed the Pope St. John Paul II Chapel Mausoleum to honor the cemetery’s Polish roots.

Construction on the addition is planned to begin in the spring.