By Lynn Stevens

Preparing a final resting place for a president has changed in the last four decades, thanks in part to the creation of presidential libraries and museums.

"A long time ago, most presidents were buries at their homes," said Barbara Owens, spokeswoman, State Funeral Plans, Joint Force Headquarters, National Capitol Region/Military District of Washington.

The MDW handled the details of the late President Gerald Ford's interment. Even the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, where the late president is buried, was prohibited from discussing details, according to its director, James Kransis.

Although Lyndon B. Johnson is buried at his Texas ranch in what Owens called a grave "just like any other cemetery," other presidents since John F. Kennedy have had more public final resting places created. Kennedy is at Arlington National Cemetery. Ronald Reagan is buried at his library, and Gerald Ford is buried at his museum. Presidents and their families choose the location and the type of monument.

The museum and library locations tend to increase public visitation. That affects design and construction.

"When it comes to the actual preparation of a grave, some of the things they have to consider are topography of the land -- is it sturdy enough that it will hold up in the weather (and) community visitation?" Owens said.

The site is prepared so soil doesn't wash away in heavy rains, she said.

"If you take President Ford's grave, it's on a hillside up against the property of the museum," Owens explained. "Depending on the soil, the construction engineers would have to decide what would work best for the infrastructure of the tomb."

Structural dimensions are influenced by the site, and the president's family chooses the site, she said.

President Ford is buried in a mausoleum-style grave, as is President Reagan, Owens said. Typically concrete, it is their architecture that makes each unique.

"The architecture has to support the traffic of many visitors," Owens said.

Whether a president's final resting place is a grave or a mausoleum, it is built more robustly than an ordinary person's, in order to support large numbers of visitors. Designers have to balance that against practical demands -- the tablets, or doors, of a mausoleum must be able to be opened for eventual interment of the president's spouse.

Everyone who worked on the construction of President Ford's tomb signed a confidentiality agreement, Owens said. The secrecy extended to the identities of the contractors.

"That has to do with the family, not the military," Owens said.

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