By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–The restoration of the Kings Highway Burial Ground may begin soon, even as the Historic District Commission’s Cemeteries Subcommittee spends months putting together a detailed preservation plan, the Cemetery Subcommittee of the Historic District Commission (HDC) said last night.

The preservation effort could also spread to other historic cemeteries in town, but the Revolutionary War-era site on Kings Highway is a good starting point because of its visibility and its unquestioned historical significance, said HDC Chairman Benjamin Levites.

“If we can restore it and increase public access, that would be a really good start,” he said.

The initiative would create a preservation plan over the next few months that could serve as “a bible” for needed improvements at the 1.4-acre site at the northeast corner of Kings Highway and Wilton Road.

Presenting other such plans and a template from the National Parks Service, Levites said that with the plan, the commission would prioritize what could be done with volunteers, what aspects would require skilled craftspeople to restore the stone and ironwork, and which pieces of the plan would need funding from the state or other sources.

But efforts at the grounds don’t have to wait until the plan is written. While working on that, the commission can immediately begin rounding up volunteers for light sitework, such as clearing away foliage at the entrance without touching the stone or ironwork, Levites said.

Commissioner Arthur Hayes suggested drawing volunteers by publicizing the effort.

“I think it’s also the perfect Eagle Scouts project, by the way,” Hayes said. “This is just the kind of thing they look forward to doing.”

The commissioners 

At the suggestion of Commissioner Alina Cavero, they plan to seek a local landscaper who is willing to volunteer some time to advise them. They also plan to work with the town and its attorneys and to ask town Tree Warden Ben Sykas for input. 

Preservation advocate Morley Boyd, who has spearheaded efforts to raise awareness of the Kings Highway Burial Ground’s condition and to restore it, said the entrance treatment was added about 50 years ago and does not match the original “very clean and austere” aesthetic.

“It looks like something that would be more at home at a very nice gas station,” he said.

He also noted that the town budget does not include funds to sustain restored cemeteries.

Levites said the subcommittee would meet again in 30 to 60 days to assess progress of the initiative.

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}