Construction of a parking garage at the Denver Botanic Gardens resumed today after the Denver coroner’s office discovered and removed bones and remnants of old caskets over the weekend.
Michelle Weiss-Samaras, Denver’s chief deputy coroner, and members of her staff were at the site Friday afternoon and all day Saturday carefully sifting through the earth.
The gardens are on top of one of the city’s oldest cemeteries, dating from 1858.
Excavation for a new multistory parking garage at 1005 York St. came to an abrupt halt at noon Friday when the coroner’s office announced that an old grave had been discovered.
During careful digging at the site Friday and Saturday, Weiss-Samaras said that her team uncovered many items from the cemetery.
“Many gravesites were found, but the majority had already been removed,” she said. ” Some were discovered intact or partially intact and were removed for burial,” she said.
Will Jones, spokesman for the Denver Botanic Gardens, said that excavation on the parking structure, which will hold about 320 cars, began about three weeks ago.
Jones said today that the Denver coroner’s team worked with extreme caution.
“They wanted to make sure that if any remains were at the site, they found everything,” said Jones. “They found bone fragments and remnants of coffins.”
All the remains are being moved to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, where they will receive a proper burial, said Jones.
Jones said that if any more bones are found, construction will stop and the coroner’s office will be called.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
