MACON, Ga. — Earlier in June, a truck rammed into the historic Rose Hill Cemetery archway at the College Street entrance. Now, the city says it can be repaired. Plans are in the works to restore it to as good as new while keeping its old character.
Rose Hill Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Macon and it's nearly 200 years old. Bill Causey is a project manager with the county.
"It was opened in 1840, so it's been the cemetery for a long time for mayors, senators, and governors, other famous and interesting people from Macon and other places," Causey said.
Famous Maconites such as the Allman Brothers are buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery, making it a popular spot for tourists.
"5, 8, 10 cars a day will come in. They almost always want to know where the Allman Brothers are buried, but they love this place. They come from all over the country," Causey said.
The more than 50-acre cemetery has a lot of history -- so much that it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in the 1970s. Part of its history-- the archway. It's served as the entrance on College Street since the cemetery has been there.
"The arch has got granite facing on it. You can see the difference on the stone. It would be so expensive to build an arch like that these days," Causey said.
Causey says after a truck ran into the archway gate June 1, they weren't sure if they could repair it.
"First thing we got to do is stabilize it -- it's leaning a little bit -- so it don't fall. Then, the guy will come and do the brickwork, the gates will be repainted, we're going to get all this vegetation out of here, and it should look very nice when we're done," said Causey.
Causey hopes for the future, "Keeping this historical resource in as good a condition as we can. When they see how quickly and hope how well this turns out, it will make them feel good about how well we are treating this cemetery,” he said.
Causey says the archway should be complete by the end of summer.