Since purchasing Rogell golf course from the City of Detroit in 2004, Greater Grace Church has yet to make a profit. Now they're looking to sell, though the investor they've hooked has a slightly more depressing vision for the course's 120 acres: a new cemetery. Understandably, this has caused frowns across the board for a variety of reasons. First, Rogell has a rather respectable pedigree, having been designed in 1914 by legendary course designer Donald Ross. In addition, the course is seen as a major neighborhood asset, and some residents think the idea of filling said asset with corpses might drag down property values. They could be right. A study by the Appraisal Institute's Journal discovered that, of four case studies, only one cemetery raised the value of nearby homes, and that one was especially scenic and park-like. Aside from all that, cemeteries are creepy. Apparently, a traditional cemetery holds about 1,250 bodies per acre, meaning this cemetery could hypothetically hold 150,000 dead people.
· Plan Would Turn Detroit Golf Course Into Cemetery [CBS]
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