Concerns over the future of the section of Graceland Cemetery known as "Jewish Graceland" seem to have been put to rest for the time being. "Nothing is going to happen with the cemetery right now. The zoning change has even been put on hold," according to Ald. Bernie Hansen (44th). Hansen was referring to a City Council proposal he had made, in conjunction with Ald. Helen Schiller (46th), to downzone the property from an R-4 zoning, high density residential to an R-1, low density residential, which would thereby render the property unprofitable to developers. The property is described as bounded roughly by Montrose Ave., the CTA right-of-way, Clark St., and Grace and Racine avenues.
"Right now, no one can develop the property. I don't know who would buy it. There's been so much publicity, people know there's trouble with the use of cemetery land for real estate development so who's going to buy it?" Hanson continued.
The issue arose in the mid 1990s when the northern portion of the cemetery known as "Jewish Graceland," was sold to a corporation allegedly controlled by R. Alexander Partin and Gregory Donatelli. Those individuals have made several efforts to use portions of the land lying south of Irving Park Rd. and east of Clark Street for purposes other than normal burials.
At one point they proposed redeveloping the land into a pet cemetery. At another point, they wanted to construct a funeral home on the land and then, later, a crematorium. Their most recent proposal was to convert the land to residential use by selling off portions to real estate developers. The downzoning proposal by Ald. Hansen, which has since been tabled in the City Council, discouraged that move.
Norman Schwartz, the Chicago Hebrew Benevolent Society at one time operated part of the cemetery, according to historian and Jewish genealogist. It was a successor to the city's original Jewish burial ground in Lincoln Park at North Ave. Schwartz has been described as a walking encyclopedia of Chicago's Jewish history.
Both Partin and Donatelli have checkered reputations; their efforts to disturb the burial sites. "In order to build on the land, the owners would need disinterment permits from each of the lot owners. Since records are not up to date, this would be very unlikely," said the dean of Jewish funeral directors in Chicago, Jules Furth, Since the owners of the cemetery would be responsible for the removal of the bodies, and since disinterment would be a complex process, Furth seemed certain that the cemetery would remain in its current state.
However, according to Schwartz, portions of the present cemetery are not being properly maintained. Trash, dead trees, underbrush and litter mar the appearance of the property. At one time, Partin and Donatelli organized a Halloween Party in the cemetery. Ald. Hansen was able to stop the issuance of a permit for a rerun of the event and police are now patrolling the land during the Halloween weekend in order to prevent desecration of the graves. "People in the neighborhood have complained about the condition of the cemetery without any action being taken by the owners," Schwartz said.
Another person watching developments in the cemetery issue is the senior rabbi of Temple Sholom, Rabbi Aaron Petuchowski. Rabbi Petuchowski is maintaining a file on the cemetery situation. "There is nobody in their right mind who is taking this proposed sale even remotely seriously," he said.
Considering the number of people who are carefully monitoring the situation at Graceland, the redevelopment plan will be watched closely. Respect for those buried there will be a prime consideration of those who have taken on the community responsibility of preserving this element of Chicago's heritage.
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