Woronora Memorial Park’s crematorium is being decommissioned to make way for a new state-of-the-art crematorium to cope with Sydney’s rising death rate and the need for larger coffins due to increasing obesity.
Woronora and Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park at Botany are part of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust which accounts for 20 per cent of all cremations in the Sydney metropolitan region, about 3,300 per annum.
And the death rate is rising.
In 2016, metropolitan Sydney had a death rate of 24,330 persons.
This number is expected to double by 2056 to 50,700 a year.
Along with the increasing death rate, Woronora Memorial Park is facing a new challenge - rising obesity rates.
“People are getting larger, and coffins are too,” said Graham Boyd, chief executive officer of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust.
“We have had situations where we weren’t fully briefed by a funeral director and we have not been able to fit the coffin through the door. That’s made for difficult situations,” Mr Boyd said.
Woronora has installed a new system, the Australian-manufactured HD 120 cremator which will be able to cope with bigger coffins.
“The new system is more efficient and it can cater for coffin widths of up to 1150mm wide,” Mr Boyd said.
“This is an increase from the average maximum coffin width is about 850mm.”
“Our current system, the Parsons Tabo cremator, was installed in 1989 and has been completely refurbished twice.
“During that time, we have put through over 60,000 cremations at Woronora.”
The new HD 120 cremator is manufactured by Melbourne firm Majors Engineering.
Woronora’s current crematorium located inside the 1934 Art Deco Chapel, will be decommissioned in August and the new, state-of-the-art crematorium will begin its working life.
While it is the end of an era, Mr Boyd said services will still be held in the Art Deco chapel, while the cremations will be in the new crematorium, located behind the park’s administration building.
The new $5 million crematorium will be housed a new building designed by architects Gardner Wetherill Associates.
While the new building will no longer play a role in hosting memorial services, it will include a viewing room for friends and relatives wishing to see their loved one off on their final journey.
The new building has three cremators and four stacks. The fourth stack is to allow for future expansion to cope with the anticipated increase in cremations.
And it will be able to cope with the increase in coffin sizes.
“We can take any size coffin manufactured,” Mr Boyd said.
Architect Toby Wetherill, Director of Gardner Wetherill Associates said the aesthetics of a stand-alone crematorium are quite different and pose the question of whether the building should be ‘celebrated’ or concealed, given the sensitive nature of the activity.
“The building is discreet and architecturally significant, yet sympathetic to its surrounds and innovative in its treatment of functional design,” he said.
As for the existing Art Deco Chapel in Woronora, it will continue as a centre for service and reflection even as it ceases to be a working crematorium.
“Our Chapels are truly beautiful buildings and a slice of Australian history in their own right,” said Graham Boyd.
“Preserving our heritage is part of what makes a place like Woronora so special. I think it’s why so many families choose to make a memorial to their loved one right here. There’s nowhere else quite like it.”
The new Crematorium will begin operations in August 2018, with an official opening due in October.
