Philadelphia's Mount Vernon Cemetery to be sold to green burials group

Driving the news: A judge earlier this month approved a deal for Steelmantown Cemetery Co. to buy the burial grounds for $1 from the cemetery's conservator, Philadelphia Community Development Coalition (PCDC), per court records.

• PCDC attorney Michael McIlhinney tells Axios he's working to button up remaining "title issues," but the final property transfer should be completed in the coming weeks ahead of next month's court hearing.
• The city of Philadelphia has agreed to waive any remaining tax liens on the property as part of the sale, according to court records.

What they're saying: Steelmantown Cemetery owner Ed Bixby, a former real estate developer, tells Axios he plans to spend at least $400,000 of his own money fixing up the grounds and gatehouse over the next year and a half.

• The goal is to transform Mount Vernon back into a welcoming green space for loved ones of people who are buried there.
• "It's a big job, but somebody's got to do it," Bixby says. "Cemeteries are designed for the living."

The big picture: An estimated 33,000 souls are already buried at the sprawling grounds at the intersection of Ridge and West Lehigh avenues.

• It's the final resting place of Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers, beer barons and even actor Drew Barrymore's ancestors.
• But the site had fallen into disrepair under its original owner, a court found, with burial plots and parts of the cemetery swallowed by overgrown weeds and vines.

Catch up quick: A group of preservationists and volunteers tried for three years to persuade cemetery owner Joseph Dinsmore Murphy, a Washington, D.C., attorney, to voluntarily surrender the property.

• PCDC eventually retained control of the cemetery as part of a conservatorship under a state law dealing with abandoned and blighted properties.

• The group had the property put up for sale for $1 million last year, and received serious interest from only two potential buyers, per court records.

The intrigue: Bixby plans to use an unused stretch of the cemetery for green burials — an eco-friendly way of laying the dead to rest that doesn't involve using embalming fluids.

Yes, but: There are some obstacles in Bixby's way.

• There are still missing burial records that'll make it harder for Bixby to identify existing gravesites.
• And he has faced opposition in other communities over concerns unembalmed decomposed remains could seep into the local water supply.

Bixby says the concerns are unfounded, noting that green burials were popular before embalming became the norm during the Civil War era.

• Today, Laurel Hill Cemetery offers green burial services.

What we're watching: Brandon Zimmerman, a volunteer coordinator with Friends of Mount Vernon, which has helped maintain the grounds, tells Axos his group will look to host cultural and artistic events at the cemetery in the future.

• "We can actually go at it hammer and tongs to turn this place around," he says.