Public helping to ay to refurbish Marion cemetery chapel

MARION, Ill. (AP) - The southern Illinois city of Marion is renovating a historic 99-year-old chapel in a cemetery and asking for the public to help pay for it.

Specifically, officials are asking for the public to chip in to restore the pews in the Goddard Chapel in the Marion City Cemetery.

If it sounds like a tough sell, this is no ordinary chapel. For starters, it's on the National Register of Historic Places. It's also considered beautiful enough that it's sought both as a spot to say goodbye to departed loved ones and hello to newly married couples.

To raise money, officials are selling plaques to those who pay to refurbish a pew and they tell The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan (http://bit.ly/2vjgWpv ) that seven sponsorships have been purchased and 15 remain available.