With the help of a crane and a forklift, John Flynn moved a crematorium into his Hermitage funeral home on Friday.

Flynn will operate the only crematory in Mercer County after he receives a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Flynn expects to get that in July.

The nearest crematories are in Brookfield, New Castle and Struthers, Ohio.

"It will make us the (Mercer County) funeral home that has everything," Flynn said.

The crematorium weighs more than 25,000 pounds. Made by B&L Cremation Systems of Largo, Fla., it cost about $75,000, Flynn said.

The crematorium was placed in a garage in the rear of the funeral home at 2630 E. State St.

Flynn said neighbors and those in the funeral home for services won’t be able to hear the crematorium when it is operating. He added that it emits no smoke or odor. A 26-foot-tall stack will jut out of the garage roof to release waves of heat from the crematorium, Flynn said. Bodies are cremated at about 1,800 degrees.

Flynn had planned to construct a small building to house a crematorium behind the funeral home.

In April, he asked the Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board for a variance so he could put the building 20 feet from a rear property line. The city zoning ordinance calls for a setback of 50 feet. Flynn told zoners he would have to spend as much as $20,000 to move a drainage system to meet the requirement.

They told Flynn to gather more information that proved he faced an "undue hardship" and granted him a continuance.

About a week later, before the next hearing, Flynn said he had nixed building plans. Rather than seek a variance, he said he would place the crematorium inside his funeral home. A crematory is a permitted accessory use for funeral homes in the city’s central commercial district.

Placing the crematorium inside the funeral home cut project costs by as much as $70,000 and saved up to 18 parking spots, Flynn said.

Historians say cremations can be traced back about 5,000 years. The first crematory in the United States was constructed 125 years ago in Washington, Pa.