H eadlines
West Laurel Hill
Cemetery to Open
New Jewish Section
LO C AL
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
Son of Jessy Sandoval-Barrett
& Steven Barrett
Son of Lisa &
Richard Grossman
4 JUNE 3, 2021
Son of Tracey Ellenbogen
and David Ellenbogen
Son of Rachel &
Matthew Hancock Z”L
Son of Andrea & Brian Fox
Son of Lori & David Israeli
Daughter of Jacqueline &
Andrew Greenberg
Daughter of Marcy
& Ira LaVoe
JEWISH EXPONENT
of enclosure, separation and
intimacy, while tying into the
neighborhood. Formal gates
will incorporate washing
stations. Aside from existing mature
trees on the site, plants that
have significance to Judaism
and Jewish history will
be incorporated into the
landscaping, including willow,
myrtle, flowering almond and
cedar of Lebanon, Uhlig said.

“We’ll use species indig-
enous to Israel, but hardy
enough to live in Philadelphia,”
he said.

“This will create a sense of
place and tell a story in the
living landscape of the connec-
tion between modern Jews and
Jewish cultural and religious
history,” Arboretum Manager
Aaron Greenberg said.

The sloping
section presented both opportunities
and problems to tackle, Uhlig
said. “With those slopes came
some nice challenges,” he said.

“We creatively integrated the
stormwater into the pathways.”
Goldenberg didn’t rule out
further expansion of either the
Jewish or non-Jewish sections
of West Laurel Hill, which is
a private, nonprofit entity that
also operates a funeral home.

“We’re not running out of
space,” she said.

That’s unlike several of
the older, strictly Jewish
cemeteries in the Philadelphia
area. The Jewish Exponent
has written several stories
in recent years detailing the
decline of cemeteries that
have little remaining space
and have limited numbers of
new burials, resulting in poor
financial conditions. l
W E ST L AU R E L H I L L
Cemetery opened a Jewish
section in 2011 called Chesed
Shel Emet, and it proved so
successful that the Bala
Cynwyd cemetery is breaking
ground on a new Jewish
section. To be called Makom
Shalom, A Place of Peace, the
new section will feature space
for 884 plots spread over about
2.5 acres of rolling hillside
landscaped into three terraces,
cemetery President and CEO
Nancy Goldenberg said. The
new section is slated to debut
in June 2022; design work
began in 2019.

“The design speaks to
the need for a contempla-
tive cemetery experience that
knits Jewish tradition with the
natural beauty and serenity of
a very special place,” she said.

West Laurel Hill, which was
founded in 1869 and covers
187 acres, hired Boston-based
Halvorson | Tighe & Bond
Studio to design Makom
Shalom, which will be north
and adjacent to Chesed Shel
Emet and its 1,780 plots.

“(Chesed Shel
Emet) exceeded our expectations in
terms of popularity. A third
of the plots were sold within a
couple years,” Goldenberg said,
noting that nearly all of those
plots are now sold.

The cemetery also completed
in 2017 a 385-plot section for
members of Orthodox Lower
Merion Synagogue.

Bob Uhlig, the vice
president of landscape archi-
tecture and urban design for
Halvorson | Tighe & Bond, said
the new section’s design will agotlieb@jewishexponent.com;
incorporate Jewish elements 215-832-0797
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
We’ll use species indigenous to Israel, but hardy enough to live in
Philadelphia.” BOB UHLIG
Renderings of Makom Shalom at West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Courtesy of West Laurel Hill Cemetery
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
JUNE 3, 2021
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