Plans to relocate Iowa cemetery scrapped; new site planned

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) — Plans to relocate an Iowa cemetery that is surrounded by a brickmaker’s industrial complex have been scrapped. Established in 1854, the Woodbury Township Cemetery in Sergeant Bluff has reached its capacity of 1,200 graves, and there’s nowhere to expand. In August, Brickworks North America had offered a 10-acre site for a new cemetery with space for 5,600 graves. The Sioux City Journal reports that the company also offered to pay to develop the new cemetery and move the graves. But it was more costly than originally thought and some families didn’t want the graves moved. Instead, Brickworks and the city agreed to a land exchange in which the company will give the 10-acre site to the city for a new cemetery and the city will give the brickmaker a road.