Halloween may be permanently off limits, but for the other 364 days of the year, ‘s new event center is officially open for business.
Cemetery officials hope the flexible, 2,700-square-foot space, called , will boost ongoing efforts to — namely, the still living.
Birthday parties, corporate luncheons, even weddings are among the gatherings being targeted, in addition to outside funeral services and post-funeral receptions, events director Onda Vega said.
“Times are changing. People aren’t as traditional as they were before, and people are more open to anything and everything that has to do with family,” Vega said.
“Fairmount is kind of going back to the original concept — we were supposed to be a community park,” she said. “Of course, we’re a cemetery, but we still have that community base and we’re trying to re-embrace that.”
The event center was part of a nearly $8 million renovation project on the 280-acre cemetery grounds, at the corner of East Alameda Avenue and South Quebec Street, president Kelly Briggs said. Other phases included the construction of three new mausoleums, expanded stormwater detention and landscaping, and a major overhaul of Fairmount’s main offices.
For the events center, Denver-based Sprocket Design-Build transformed what was the cemetery’s largest mortuary chapel, adjacent to the Fairmount offices, into a serene, yet inviting space that can host up to 200 people.
The original vaulted wood ceiling was maintained, but the orientation of the room was flipped to provide more seamless access from a new entry vestibule. The space also was made wheelchair-accessible.
Off to one side, a large casket display room and a conference room have been replaced with a “flex” space that can accommodate a bar area, large visitations and other uses. Through another set of doors is a lounge area with casual seating and historic photos lining the walls.
“We didn’t want it to feel like a funeral home,” Vega said. “We went for Colorado lodge, more inviting, more exciting.”
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, similar event centers and banquet facilities are a small but growing part of the industry nationwide.
In 2015, 9.5 percent of members indicated in a survey that they offered some sort of community/family center, spokeswoman Jessica Koth said. That was up from 6 percent in 2011, the first year the amenity was even on the association’s radar.
Quebec Place at Fairmount already has two weddings on the books for 2017, Vega said. The cemetery will launch its third summer of in June.
“Once people realize how respectful we are of the integrity of the cemetery, they get it,” Vega said. “I can imagine what that sounds like from an outsider looking in, but once they get here, they love it. They embrace it.
“We’re not disrespectful. We do keep the integrity of our roots — we just want to open our doors.”
Sprocket principal Matt McHugh said care was put into the design to make sure the new spaces were appropriate for funerals and other types of gatherings.
“Typically, funeral homes can be fairly drab and depressing. We wanted to create a celebration of life,” McHugh said. “That meant creating a space that has a little more uplifting feel while still being respectful.”
Skylights were added, as were some windows, a spire and copper exterior accents. Landscaping was also a priority, to help better connect the building to the grounds’ parklike atmosphere.
“It’s calm but it’s still uplifting. We added a lot more light,” McHugh said. “We tried to use the bones of the building, so it would look like it was always here.”
As part of the renovation, two new entry vestibules were created for the 1960s-era building — one for families there to conduct funeral- or cemetery-related business and the other for events.
“We want to keep a little bit of separation between the events happening here,” Vega said. “We don’t want a grieving family coming in the same entrance as a party.”
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or @emilierusch
