Coventry’s main crematorium to close for a fortnight

[dutchman]

There will be no funerals at Canley Crematorium for a fortnight in June, so builders can do the bulk of work to replace cremators.



The council says cordoning it off for the noisy and large-scale work is the best way of making sure the project is finished this year – over 4 years since it started.

As well as replacing the two existing cremators, the site will soon get a third, and all will be bigger to reflect the size of Coventry’s population. There will also be an option for people to watch the process through a glass window.

Up until now the bulk of the work has been done at evenings and weekends, although some of it did force the closure of a cremator last year and meant months of delays for people wanting to hold funerals there.

Councillor Lindsley Harvard says the temporary closure will speed up the project and make a big difference to the service we have:

“We understand the difficulties this closure might cause – but we have spoken to local funeral directors and agreed that in the circumstances it is the best option. If we (Labour) were to begin this work now – we would not approach it in this way with the work spread over four years – but the decision was not ours at the time.

“I want to thank everyone for bearing with us on this and apologise in advance for any inconvenience the closure will cause. We are keen to finish the work once and for all, so everyone can get back to normal and this closure is the best way to achieve this speedily and at least cost.

“We’re updating them and making sure that where possible people can see people cremated if that’s part of the custom, larger doors and things like this – it really will be very modern when it’s done.”

It will mean between June 2nd and June 17th families will have to hold cremations in Warwick and Nuneaton – but they can have ashes transferred back to Coventry.