Liquor license approved for planned funeral home in Burlington

What does a funeral home need with a liquor license?

We ask because in the village of Rochester a business of that type just got approved for one.

A wooded area with the address 2787 Browns Lake Drive, Burlington is soon in store for some big changes. That is where the owners of Integrity Funeral Services is planning to build Integrity Celebrations - a nearly 6,000 square foot building designed for parties even funerals with on-site alcohol sales.

For six years Cindi Schweitzer has owned the business with her husband. Now - with their expansion - they have been approved for a Class A Beer and Liquor license.

"It's not common at all. I would say you see that more maybe in Milwaukee a little bit. Like, they're just starting to get into it. But, again, I really feel like funerals are changing," Schweitzer said.

Sales and event coordinator Courtney Melby says they are developing more social funeral ideas to go along with the space.

The family of a football fan might want the food and feeling of a last tailgate.

Or for golfers...

"It would be [a] final 'party' spelled P-A-R-T-E-E," Melby said, talking about how the theme could be used to remember the person's interests.

"The nice part about having that right in the facility is that it encourages conversation. It encourages you to have those memories and you don't have the stress of outsourcing and having to go to a second location," Melby said.

The idea is also trying to get the business in front of the trend of shorter funerals because family members cannot commit as much time.

"We've gone from three days to three hours, so that's a big change. And I think people are just focused now on 'Hey, let's celebrate life. This doesn't have to be a sad drawn-out situation. Let's celebrate that person'," Schweitzer said.

The business owners are hoping to have Integrity Celebrations up and running by February of next year. They already have more than $1M in pre-booked business, Melby said.