Medina awarded $7,500 grant to assess stone retaining walls at Boxwood Cemetery
Photo courtesy of Todd Bensley: The stone wall on the hill of Boxwood Cemetery, facing North Gravel Road, has crumbled.
Press Release, Preservation League of NYS
MEDINA – The Village of Medina is one of this year’s Technical Assistance Grant awardees. The grant of $7,500 will fund a Limited Condition Assessment of the Old Cemetery Section Retaining Walls at the Boxwood Cemetery.
The Preservation League of NYS and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) are thrilled to help fund this important work. At its 2025 meeting, an independent panel selected 31 applicants in 20 counties to receive support totaling $347,500. Grants represent both of the League’s signature NYSCA regrants – Preserve New York (PNY) and Technical Assistance Grants (TAG).
Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said, “The Village is honored and thrilled that the Preservation League and its partners recognize the significance of Boxwood Cemetery, a site that has added to our community’s charm for over 175 years and attracts visitors from around the world today. We will engage our citizens and professionals in this cultural heritage project, thanks to this grant.”
Village Historian Todd Bensley added, “This vital grant will fund analysis by experts at Clinton Brown Company Architecture, pc., for a plan of restoration of Boxwood Cemetery’s character-defining Medina sandstone retaining walls at its hilly, ‘Old Cemetery’ section. This will help secure its future for generations to come.”
Historic Boxwood Cemetery, established in 1849, is an exemplary Victorian burial ground. Its terraces feature several walls of cut Medina Sandstone. The resting place of many early settlers and notable historic people, the cemetery includes approximately 5,000 marked burials, spanning from 1849 until the present day.
Boxwood’s evolution demonstrates changing cemetery design theories, including Rural and Park-Lawn cemetery models. The 1903 chapel was designed in the Gothic Revival style with Medina Sandstone. This grant-funded assessment will provide information to help guide the Village’s efforts to preserve Boxwood Cemetery for years to come.
“This year, the League has brought our two longstanding NYSCA partnership grants together into one cycle, allowing us to see a clear picture of the remarkable preservation work getting started across the state,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of NYS. “The targeted studies funded by TAG and the expansive reports made possible by PNY will lay the groundwork for many vital projects over the years to come.”
