Gibraltar Notes

Town of Gibraltar News and Notes

Blossomburg Cemetery To Be Expanded

Gibraltar Town Board Chairman Merrell Runquist said the town will be expanding Blossomberg Cemetary in Peninsula State Park after a perpetual easement for additional land was approved by Governor Jim Doyle. The town owns seven acres in the park and can choose to develop one acre at a time. The cemetery dates to 1885 and is the final resting place for many of Door County’s noteworthy names. Runquist said there is an extensive waiting list for plots at present and the expansion should satisfy the need for decades to come. The expansion work will include tree clearing and grass seeding.

Work Continues on Boathouse and Noble Square

The town is remodeling the garage behind the Noble House into office space for the museum and public restrooms, which should alleviate the burden on downtown businesses for restroom use. The new bathrooms and complete renovations are expected to be completed well before the 2008 tourism crush.

The Gibraltar Historical Association (GHA) is paying for the office portion of the work, which will give them increased storage space and allow them to return the Noble House closer to the original plans drawn up by Ula Noble, plans that were found by chance with one of her saved letters. The town is paying for the restrooms.

The boathouse at Clark Park is getting upgrades as well. Work on that project, including new bathrooms, electrical work, and interior renovations, is slated for completion by April.

An old black locust tree in front of the Noble House met its sad demise Nov. 21. The tree, one of several in Noble Square, had to be removed because of the risk to pedestrians and property, said Eunice Rutherford of the GHA.

“I hate to cut down any tree,” she said. “But sometimes you have to make a decision when there’s a risk to others.”

Passersby stopped to watch as Lyle Spearo trimmed limbs from up high and let them plummet to the ground below, which qualified as excitement on a gray November day in Fish Creek. Within the hour, most of the tree was nothing but a pile of mulch in a wagon.

The trees tend to grow in a V shape from a central stump, Rutherford explained, which results in them growing weak as they age. She said a large limb fell into a nearby maple tree last summer and it was determined the tree would have to come down before other limbs might hurt people or damage vehicles.

Some of the trees in the park had to have their two large trunks cabled together a few years ago to stabilize them, and Rutherford said it’s hoped that will allow them to remain for the foreseeable future.