10 MAY 23-29, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | burial grounds, and a special interest in mak- ing the most of extant ones such as Riverside. And so, for as much as it may sometimes look like a disregarded artifact of history, Riverside’s past has a lot to say for the future of the western cemetery. Frank Rossi is a professor in the horticul- ture section at Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science, and an international expert in the science of grass and turf. He was part of the team that converted portions of Brooklyn’s famously manicured Green-Wood Cemetery from ornamental lawns to natural, overgrown meadows and grasslands. For him, the math is simple: As water became scarce for Riverside, it might become scarce for the rest of the American West. “Is a green-grass Victorian cemetery an anachronism in a world starved for water? The answer is yes,” he says. “Whether it’s cemeteries or other what are primarily aes- thetic grasslands, like lawns, I think every- body is going to be questioning the value of it.” In that way, Riverside perhaps has a leg up on Fairmount Cemetery and all the memo- rial parks that it came to inspire in Colorado: Every green cemetery will likely die, at least in part, and Riverside got the dying part out of the way a long time ago — including all the de- nial and anger that make up key stages of grief. For Riverside to stand as a model for fu- ture cemeteries depends mostly on factors beyond the cemetery’s gates. Keller sug- gests there’s a chance that the surrounding neighborhoods morph from warehouses, recycling centers and trucking depots to a trendy blend of housing, entertainment and dining — an idea not out of the question, given the signifi cant redevelopment nearby of both the National Western Center and what is now the RiNo neighborhood, for better or worse. In that scenario, Riverside’s historical pedigree, along with the twin logistical and ethical nightmares of moving at least 67,000 bodies, probably protect it from becoming condos. Its new neighbors, though, would insist on some form of investment in the thing just to prop up property values: Imag- ine a lightly irrigated Riverside dotted with low-water native trees and plants that look best when overgrown. An afterlife as the Botanic Gardens of Brighton Boulevard is an uplifting thought — but like all plans for the afterlife, it’s ulti- mately just speculation. What is undeniable is that this cemetery started out as prairie land, unkempt and un- bowed. It indelibly shaped its surroundings, inspired Denver residents and infl uenced history in a way that at least history-minded people care about. With age, it broke down and decomposed to the extent that many folks simply prefer to remember how it used to be. It is now prairie land once more. In that way, Riverside Cemetery isn’t a place to engage with history or even store remains. It’s a model for confronting mortal- ity; insisting on a green cemetery is a form of denying death. Places like Riverside remind the living that “all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again” — no matter who you are, or what your name might be. Email the author at [email protected]. Tomb With a View continued from page 8 A statue guards the graves of Union soldiers in the section devoted to the Grand Army of the Republic. EVAN SEMÓN ............................................................................................... ............................................................................... THANK YOU TO OUR PRODUCTION PARTNER, SASQUATCH PRODUCTIONS OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS: ....... ...... . . . . . . . . . . .. OUR GENERO FOLLOW THE TRANSFORMATION OF ELLE WOODS AS SHE TACKLES STEREOTYPES AND SCANDAL IN PURSUIT OF HER DREAMS. THIS MUSICAL IS SO MUCH FUN, IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! P R E S E N T S Opera Opera in the in the High Country High Country Induction Dinner & Celebration with Opening Performance of The Pirates of Penzance Saturday, June 29, 2024 Saturday, June 29, 2024 Teller House ~ Central City, CO Teller House ~ Central City, CO In partnership with Sponsorships and tickets available at www.cmhof.org and www.centralcityopera.org presents Induction Class of 2024
