Community members are invited to attend the Official Opening of the new Crematorium at Woronora Memorial Park next month.
In August this year, the current crematorium at Woronora Memorial Park, located inside the 1934 Art Deco Chapel, was decommissioned.
In its place, a new, state-of-the-art crematorium began its working life.
“It’s the end of an era,” said Graham Boyd, chief executive officer of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries NSW which incorporates Woronora Memorial Park and Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park near Botany.
“It was a decision we took after careful modelling, and with the realisation that our current infrastructure was reaching the end of its useful life.”
Being the largest crematorium Crown operator in NSW, Woronora and Eastern Suburbs together account for 20 per cent of all cremations in the Sydney metropolitan region and the death rate is rising.
In 2016, Metro Sydney had a death rate of 24,330 persons, and in 2056 this number will increase to 50,700.
“Our current system, the Parsons Tabo cremator, was installed in 1989 and has been completely refurbished twice,” Mr Boyd said.
“During that time, we have put through over 60,000 cremations at Woronora.”
Along with a rising death rate, Woronora, along with other cremation providers, is facing a new challenge: rising obesity rates.
“People are getting larger – and coffins are too,” Mr Boyd said.
“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 some difficult situations.”
Following a comprehensive tender process, the new system was chosen: an Australian manufactured HD 120 cremator, manufactured by Melbourne firm Majors Engineering.
“The new system is more efficient and it can cater for coffin widths up to 1150mm wide,” Mr Boyd said.
The new crematorium is housed in an architecturally designed building from respected architects Gardner Wetherill Associates. While the new building will no longer play a role in hosting memorial services, it includes a viewing room for friends and relatives wishing to see their loved one off on their final journey.
“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,” said Toby Wetherill, Director of Gardner Wetherill Associates.
“We envisaged a scheme which would take Woronora to the leading edge of technology and maintain that position through periodic refurbishment. The building is discreet and architecturally significant, yet sympathetic to its surrounds and innovative in its treatment of functional design.”
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,” Mr Boyd said.
“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 be unveiled by Dr Stepan Kerkyasharian AO, Chairman of Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW on Tuesday, December 4 at 11am.
For further information about this Official Opening, please call 9545 4677.
