Westview Cemetery and Southview Memorial Gardens are owned and operated by the Town of Blacksburg. The Town oversees the purchase of lots, site interments and regular maintenance of the two spaces. For information about traditional interment, Green Burials, purchasing lots or other services, contact the Public Works Department at 540-443-1200. For information on records, deeds, lot transfers, payments, or map records, contact the Finance Department at 540-443-1055.

Westview Cemetery

Westview Cemetery is located on Roanoke Street. This 14.5-acre cemetery is an important historic and passive recreational resource in the heart of Blacksburg. It currently serves the community as an active burial space. Both Town residents and non-residents can be buried at Westview. A resident is defined as a resident being defined as an individual owning a business, owning, or leasing real estate within the corporate limits of the Town of Blacksburg.

Southview Memorial Gardens

Located on Lee Street, the 1.2-acre Southview Memorial Gardens lies directly across East Roanoke Street from Westview Cemetery. In 2023, the Town completed a restoration project on the Lee Street hillside to create a main entrance to the property, with an established pathway that formally connects it to Westview Cemetery. 

Green Burials

There are three main types of Green Burial grounds: hybrid burial grounds, natural burial grounds and conservation burial grounds. Westview Cemetery is classified as a hybrid cemetery, as it offers a distinct natural burial section within the surrounding conventional cemetery. Southview Memorial Gardens is a traditional cemetery that does not currently offer Green Burial services.

Green Burials are a natural, ecofriendly way of caring for the deceased with minimal environmental impact. These burial types aid in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, and the restoration and, or preservation of natural landscapes and habitats.

A hallmark of Green Burials is that all associated burial products must be made of natural biodegradable material, prohibiting the use of metal and exotic wood caskets, or non-natural materials such as concrete, fiberglass or plastic burial vaults. In addition to regulating burial materials, utilizing Green Burial practices eliminates the use of traditional embalming methods that involve toxic chemicals.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q.  Do green burials contaminate the ground water?

A.  No. With burials 3.5 feet deep, there is no danger of contaminating ground or surface water.

 

Q.  Will Green Burials attract animals?

A.  No. Burials occur 3.5 feet under the ground with, at minimum, an 18-inch smell barrier.  This is well beyond the depth that animals can detect a scent.

 

Q.  Can families be involved in the gravesite preparation and burial process?

A.  Grave openings are required to be performed by cemetery staff.  Families can participate in the burial by shoveling earth into the grave.  Final closing, and modifications to the grave site area will be performed by cemetery staff.

 

Q.  How is the casket or shrouded body transferred to the gravesite and placed in the grave?

A.  Burials must be coordinated through a licensed funeral home.  The level of family participation will be determined by the funeral service provider.  Cemetery staff will not be involved in the placement of the body into the grave.    

 

Q.  If someone currently owns a cemetery plot in the traditional burial area of Westview Cemetery, can this be traded for a green burial site?

A.  No.  The cemetery does not have a buy-back or trade-in program for purchased cemetery plots.

 

Q.  Do non-biodegradable materials need to be removed from the body prior to burial?

A.  No.  Removal of non-biodegradable materials like plates, screws, and fillings, are not required to be removed from the body.  Non-biodegradable clothing materials, like buttons and zippers are also not regulated by the Green Burial standards in the cemetery regulations.

 

Q.  Are bodies containing chemo or other drugs allowed in the Green Burial Section?

A.  Yes.  Soil is natural filter, binding organic compounds and making them unable to travel. Microorganisms in the soil break down any chemical compound that remain in the body.