LEWISTON — Officials at St. Peter’s Cemetery announce the planned construction of a new garden mausoleum. Site work is underway, as all required state and local permits have been secured.

The facility will be constructed a short distance from the existing chapel mausoleum. Unlike the existing building, there will be no interior space in the new mausoleum and crypts will be accessed from the exterior of the structure.

The proposed garden mausoleum will be built by the Gibraltar Mausoleum Construction Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. The facility will include 76 single crypts, 64 companion crypts, for a total of 204 casket spaces, and 284 cremation niches. The crypt and niche fronts will consist of granite panels and the remainder of the building will be veneered in field stone.

The cemetery was established on July 1, 1876, by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland with the acquisition of eight acres of land on Switzerland Road. Since then the cemetery has grown to approximately 70 acres of developed land with more than 44,000 burials. Over the past 20 years St. Peter’s has averaged 346 burials a year and is Maine’s largest Catholic cemetery.

St. Peter’s Cemetery serves people of all faiths. For more information, contact at Gerard Raymond at the cemetery office at 782-8721 or Gerard.Raymond@portlanddiocese.org.