Columbus funeral home to be first in Ohio to operate with a liquor license
by STEPHANIE DUPREY
A north side funeral home could soon serve mourners in a new way: alcohol.
'Evergreen Funeral Cremation and Reception' is set to open next year. They applied for a liquor license and could soon be serving people during services.
Owners tell WSYX that this is a unique twist to a celebration of life, and they want to change how people view an average funeral.
The mission is to make the process of a very difficult time a little easier.
"My role in this position is to kind of be a party planner for the dead. Be more of a celebration of life than more of the multi-day traditional services, which cost a lot of money," Hunter Triplett told WSYX.
Triplett wants to shed the business's reputation of being dark and morbid by offering manageable prices and the option for mourners to raise a toast to a lost loved one with a bar.
According to the Ohio Liquor Control's website, the permit, if approved, would be for a D3 license. A D-3 liquor license in Ohio allows the sale of beer, wine, and hard liquor for consumption on-site.
"We will only be serving alcohol when people are on this premises and remain on the premises until the continuation of the services just for the safety of the people in the community around," Triplett added.
Triplett says adding a bar will allow people to make the service more personalized.
Evergreen is the largest full-service funeral home in Central Ohio. Triplett says once the permit is approved, his funeral home will be the first of its kind in the state.
"The inspector called me and was like, 'Is this evergreen funeral?' and I'm like ya, and they were like you are the first funeral home to get a liquor license in the state of Ohio."
The funeral home sits along East 17th Avenue. The building was once 'Maramor Chocolate Factory'.
Triplett's family bought the property in 2015. Evergreen Cemetery sits right across the street from the property.
Triplett says he wanted his services to be easy to manage financially and planning-wise.
"It's kind of like a one-stop shop for funeral service. The package being around $5,000-$6,000, contrary to the national average, which can be upwards of $10,000.
Triplett says he also has updates to the website that allows his services to fit the needs of the community he serves.
"We offer online translations to allow some of the traditional African and some of the Middle Eastern families that we serve in this community to be able to communicate properly with their families."
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, some states don't allow funeral homes to serve food or drinks.
That includes Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and North Dakota. Triplett says he plans to open his services around the first of the year.