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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 17 April 2005 |
Pantele blasts plans for body-part firm to buy former funeral home
BY JEFFREY KELLEY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Apr 15, 2005
A company that holds medical seminars that use human cadavers and body parts may soon take up residence in Richmond's historic Jackson Ward at the site of a now-bankrupt funeral home.
The sale of A.D. Price Funeral Establishment at 212 E. Leigh St. has not been completed, and one city councilman hopes it never will.
International Biological Inc., based in Grosse Pointe, Mich., plans to buy the property for $955,000 through the company's subsidiary, IBI Enterprises LLC.
International Biological conducts medical and surgical seminars throughout the U.S. and the world, said Stephen C. McCoy, a Richmond attorney representing the 22-year-old company. The seminars provide medical practitioners with human cadavers and body parts to practice surgical and medical procedures. IBI also assists worldwide biomedical companies in research and development.
The planned business would have frontage on Third Street's entrance into the downtown area, and has upset at least one city councilman.
"I'm hard-pressed to think of anything worse for the decades that we have been trying to bring Jackson Ward back," 2nd District Councilman William J. Pantele said yesterday, saying the image of such a place is not needed in the city. "We are literally at the precipice of making good the dream and making good the promises that have been made to this community for 50 years, and now we get this."
McCoy said the firm sees the location in a different light. "As a local business, IBI will attract DISPUTEmedical societies and their members to the convention center, the [research park], and the community," he said. "The financial and reputational benefits accruing to both the city of Richmond and to other local businesses should be substantial."
IBI President Arthur L. Rathburn received a mortuary science license in Michigan in March 1982, according to state records.
"IBI's interest in the Price funeral home property is a direct result of its proximity to both the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park and the Greater Richmond Convention Center," McCoy said.
"From [Rathburn's] likes, this is an ideal site," Pantele said. "From the standpoint of revitalization in Richmond and one of the nation's most significant African-American neighborhoods and business districts, it's a stake in the heart."
A.D. Price was established in 1881 and was Richmond's oldest black-owned funeral home. It was bought by former state Del. Fenton L. Bland Jr. and his wife in 1996, and performed funeral services and cremations. It filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2003.
Pantele said Rathburn originally had been working on a possible move into the nearby biotech park.
"We do know of the company and we have met with their senior management and we knew of their interest of locating it in Richmond, said Nicole M. Colomb, spokeswoman for the biotechnology park. "We were kind of surprised to hear of their choice of location."
As was Pantele. The councilman's district covers Jackson Ward, and he has worked for years to bring life back to the area. If the sale is finalized, Pantele said the company plans to build a second crematorium and buy additional space near the site.
"Directly across the street from a brand-new $170 million convention center, that's my understanding," Pantele said. "This particular site is a key strategic site for the redevelopment of Second Street, in which the city has invested millions of dollars."
Pantele said the company may involve the state medical examiner's office and students and researchers at nearby VCU Medical Center in business operations.
"We do have an anatomical program that provides donated bodies to medical schools and research institutions," said Kelly Lobanov, spokeswoman with the medical examiner's office. However, she said, "We do not have any kind of agreement with International Biological."
A spokeswoman for VCU Medical Center could not comment yesterday on any relationship between it and IBI.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031782159114 |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Its funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life.” Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stone, D
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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