Layton mortuary is one of the state's largest

  

YES, Layton lacks its own City Cemetery, However, back in 1996, the state's largest mortuary - Lindquist, with room for five simultaneous viewings during a single evening – opened in town – and it is still one of Utah’s largest. It also operates its own private cemetery.

The company outgrew it's 7,000-square-foot-building at 1074 North Fairfield and built a new 30,000-square-foot facility next to its memorial park at 1867 North Fairfield. (Lindquist's Ogden mortuary was previously the state's largest at 27,000-square feet in size, at the time.)

 Craig J. McMillan, Lindquist general manager, said the company built such a large facility in Layton because of the growth potential in north Davis County. Layton is Davis County's largest city and the surrounding communities of Syracuse and West Point are also having growing pains and are served by Lindquist too.

"We built for the future, not the present," McMillan said.

                                      Lindquist's adjacent private cemetery in Layton.

"It also might be the largest mortuary in the intermountain area," he said, explaining there isn't a trend nationally toward larger funeral homes. It just made sense in Layton to build an unusually large facility.

Besides room for five different viewings, the Layton mortuary also has a large chapel. It can seat 250 people outright and with the two adjoining family rooms that can also be opened up, McMillan said it can seat hundreds more, probably making it the state's largest funeral chapel too.

Some comments from patrons there had referred to Lindquist's new building as a Taj Mahal or a Shangri-La.

"We're pleased with the response," McMillan said.

But the Layton mortuary isn't just big. McMillan said it has other pluses too.

"When people think of mortuaries, they think of cold," he said.

Thus, the new building has a very colorful and bright interior design. Patrons entering the mortuary are greeted by a large marble gas fireplace and McMillan said that it's intended to warm hearts.

The building's interior features majestic colonial columns. The landscaping is also well planned. Many trees were planted and rocks were hauled in for beauty. In addition, some 2,500 tulip bulbs were planted.

"We're very pleased with the landscaping.

Parking is also ample, with 125 stalls available.

The building's 1867 North address reflects the year Lindquist started its business more than 150 years ago in Logan.

Lindquist hasn't abandoned or torn down its old Layton building, constructed in 1984, either. They worked out a generous deal with the Light of the Valley Luthern Church to purchase the old building.

Layton City officials approached Lindquist in 1984 about operating a private memorial park in the city to fill that gap. The company's wasn't initially interested, though it already had two other memorial parks in Weber County.

However, McMillan said a year later the company learned that Kaysville City was starting a substantial non-resident price difference in its cemetery.

"The bottom line was Layton wasn't welcome there anymore," McMillan said.

So, when Layton leaders came calling again, this time Lindquist was interested. The company built its own cemetery in 1988 on 26 acres.

There's room there for some 30,000 lots, with a projected 99-year lifespan. The memorial park has been a win-win situation for both the city and Lindquist.

McMillan said it's worth noting that Layton had another private cemetery started up in the 1960s on Hill Field Road. However, it lacked a perpetual care component and soon went bankrupt, abandoning some 60 graves on its 1.5-acres site.

Lindquist moved almost 50 of those graves to its own memorial park at its own expense. McMillan said another dozen graves couldn't be moved because relatives could not be located.

-This story has been updated and was originally published in the Deseret News by Lynn Arave on January 5, 1998.