Cemetery opens for four hours

Some 1,000 people showed up at a closed Glendale graveyard to visit loved ones after a court order forced open the gates for four hours.

Relatives and friends of Grand View Memorial Park’s permanent residents pulled weeds, polished gravestones and left flowers during Sunday’s brief opening.

The city last opened the 25-acre cemetery to the public in June 2007.

The 124-year-old cemetery became overgrown when its license was suspended. State officials found cremated remains of as many as 4,000 people stacked in storage rooms and tossed in a trash bin.

Grand View is being sued by families who previously bought plots or who allege that, among other things, the cemetery is being improperly maintained.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers will return to court next month to ask the judge to order the cemetery unlocked at least once a month for families.