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have come a step closer.
A planning application for the work will be considered later this summer and work should start in the autumn.
If approved, the chapel will be extended and renovated and the old toilet block will be converted into a café for mourners and people visiting the cemetery.
There will also be a remembrance garden with a water feature, a covered area for flowers and new footpaths around the site. The refurbished chapel will able to hold more than 100 mourners –more than double the number it currently holds.
The work, which is expected to take around six months, will also create an extra 20 car parking spaces. The crematorium will be closed for services for around four weeks while the work is going on, though cremations will still be carried out.
Architects Martin Critchell Associates, who also designed the new crematorium at Sandwell Valley which opened in 2010, have put together the plans. The crematorium chapel in Powke Lane opened in 1962 inside the original cemetery chapel, which was built in 1921.
Sandwell Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for town and neighbourhood services Councillor Mahboob Hussain said: “We’ve involved local funeral directors and religious leaders and they’ve helped us to come up with plans. “Our staff offer a wonderful service at both of our crematoria, and we want to bring the Rowley Regis building up to the same standard as the one at Sandwell Valley.
“We need to make the chapel bigger because mourners often have to stand outside during services and the site also needs more parking spaces. “The improvements will benefit everyone who attends the 900 services we hold at Rowley Regis Crematorium each year.”
Another major reason for the refurb is that the crematorium needs new cremator equipment. Sandwell Valley Crematorium, previously called West Bromwich Crematorium, was completely rebuilt in 2010. It now includes plenty of parking spaces and an area for coaches, a café and a large, bright chapel.
For further information please contact: Sandwell Council Communications Unit 0121 569 3031 Out of hours/emergency: 07920 027 723 www.twitter.com/sandwellcouncil www.facebook.com/sandwellcouncil