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LEHI — It's something a family hopes never to deal with — the death of a child. Regardless, it is all too often a reality for too many families. In Lehi, city leaders have recognized a need and are in the process of constructing an infant cemetery.
"This is a real reverent setting for what it is," said sextant Shawn Winters Thursday while surveying the field that will soon become the new cemetery site.
City leaders are investing $90,000 into the measure of solace for grieving families. Eventually, it will feature a monument at its center. A bricked-in area has already been erected.
"What we want to see is something that embraces the family," Winters said.
Families who have lost, Winters said, envision their babies still living. The city, he said, hopes to honor that vision with the finished product. The statue is in the process of being commissioned. The city is awaiting the renderings.
"Thinking that if the cemetery is the nicest place in the city — that's how I like to think of it — then this would be the nicest place in the cemetery," Winters said.
Winters said he envisions a "Temple Square" feel for the area. Workers will plant more trees and will change flowers for the given season.
Child cemeteries aren't entirely rare. Provo now has a second one due to the city's growth.
Winters said 1,200 plots are planned for the Lehi infant cemetery. The hope, he said, is to create a place for families to want to return regularly.
