The cleanup of Burr Oak Cemetery was pegged to cost $500,000 Wednesday, but a judge released just $50,000 for repairs and upkeep, ensuring the cemetery won’t open to the public for weeks, officials said.
Cook County Judge Martin Agran postponed until Sept. 22 a decision on whether to release the additional $450,000.
The money would come from Burr Oak’s care fund, which pays for maintenance at the cemetery near Alsip. The bank managing the fund has raised concerns over how the cemetery owners would repay the $500,000. The fund has about $1.5 million.
The cemetery has been closed to the public since July 13, shortly after allegations of a scheme to dig up as many as 300 bodies and resell burial plots. The cemetery manager and three gravediggers have been criminally charged.
Attorney James Geoly, who represents the cemetery’s new overseer, Roman Szabelski, said Burr Oak can’t reopen without the infusion of the $500,000, the estimated cost of repairs.
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Burr Oak memorial A searchable database of headstones has been compiled by the Cook County sheriff’s office and is available at: chicagotribune.com/burroak