Daily Pioneer News

A crew from Century Fence, Waukesha, installed the new fence in early July. The University of Wisconsin-Platteville and the City of Platteville split the cost to install the new decorative fence around the front side of Greenwood Cemetery.

PLATTEVILLE - The City of Platteville and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville are committed to cooperation when it comes to issues that affect both parties. A joint effort between the two recently culminated in a new fence around the north side of Greenwood Cemetery.

Located west of UWP's academic buildings, Greenwood Cemetery is the largest burial grounds that the city operates. During a meeting between city and university officials about a year ago, UWP Chancellor David Markee initiated talk to replace the chain link fence that marks the perimeter of the cemetery.

"They said they were looking to improve the look of the university, so we worked together. They committed to paying half and we committed to paying half," City of Platteville Director of Public Works Howard Crofoot said.

The two parties cooperated throughout the duration of the project.

"We went through the bidding process. We looked at a couple of companies and brought some ideas back to the university," Crofoot said.

Century Fence, Waukesha, was awarded the contract to install new fence around the side of the cemetery adjacent to Greenwood Ave. and portions near Glenview Commons and along Longhorn Drive. Chain link fence still encompasses the back boundary of the cemetery, and may be replaced at a later date. Total cost of the project was just under $50,000.

Funds for the city's portion of the project were designated from the Esther Jane Boll Trust. Upon her death in 1998, a fund from her estate was established for improvements to and upkeep of Greenwood Cemetery. City officials also lent workers to remove the old chain link fence.

The collaboration between the city and the university is not a rare occurrence as the two have cooperated on several projects in recent memory.

"A few years ago we worked on establishing periodic meetings between city officials and the university to talk about mutual issues. There's been a number of things in the past few years," Crofoot said.

They have worked together when the city made improvements on Hickory Street this summer and when the university renovated parking lots near Russell Hall, for example. And this cooperative relationship is sure to continue. As construction continues on the Hwy. 151 bypass, the chancellor has recently initiated talks about a direct route to campus from a new Hwy. 151 interchange.