The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday increased its funding to help preserve the 97-year-old chapel at Oak Hill Cemetery.

The council allotted an additional $60,000 toward the project, bringing the total the city has given to the cemetery to $261,297 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to city staff.

“I’m just really grateful to the City Council to be able to help look out for us,” said Stuart Oates, executive director of the Oak Hill Memorial Association.

According to Oates, Oak Hill is Birmingham’s original city cemetery. Purchased by the city in 1873 and placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1977, it is the resting place for two Alabama governors, seven Birmingham mayors and civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth.

The Pioneer Chapel building was named to honor the city’s founders, the Gothic-style structure was built in 1928 and meant to serve as both an office and chapel for the cemetery.

Oates said the building needs a patchwork of deferred maintenance, including repairs to much of the Indiana limestone masonry and replacement of lead-paned windows.

“We’ve been attacking it one piece at a time,” he said.

The association’s ultimate goal with the chapel’s restoration is to turn the upstairs into a visitors center and gallery for hosting events, Oates said.

“It is a beautiful building and a beautiful part of Birmingham history,” he said.