You may have heard something about the emerging “new look” of Joshua Tree Memorial Park, one of only two cemeteries in the Morongo Basin. A few people have complained about it recently on Facebook. Reporter David Haldane takes a look at what’s causing all the fuss…
The bottom line is that the graves are thirsty.
That’s the impetus behind the ongoing makeover of Joshua Tree Memorial Park. Phase one involves digging up the lawn at the Garden of Reverie—the cemetery’s veterans’ section—to install an underground irrigation system covered by smaller grass pathways and decomposed granite.
Funded largely by the Mojave Water Agency, general manager Shawn O’Conner says, the project is aimed at surviving the drought.
“We want to be looking to a more environmentally friendly future. What we want to do is go to more of a desert landscape.”
If all goes well, he says, the $125,000 project should be completed by late next year.
Barbara Hardesty, an 84-year-old Yucca Valley resident whose husband and grandson rest here, has no complaints. “I like the looks of this. A lot of people I visit out here.”
