Hundreds Gather On 5th Anniversary Of Station Nightclub Fire
February 18, 2008, 16 years ago
The following report is courtesy of Bostonherald.com:
Survivors and relatives of the 100 people killed in one of the nation’s deadliest nightclub fires marked the fifth anniversary of the disaster yesterday with a somber service at the fire site, where they received a first look at design plans for a proposed permanent memorial.
Hundreds of people huddled next to the makeshift memorial of crosses and photographs assembled on the grounds of The Station nightclub, with some crying softly as the names of each victim was slowly read aloud.
The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick began when the tour manager for the 1980s rock band GREAT WHITE set off pyrotechnics at the start of a concert. The fire left 100 people dead and more than 200 injured.
The Station Fire Memorial Foundation commissioned proposals for a permanent memorial at the fire site. The winning design, unveiled yesterday, proposes a memorial park, with a courtyard, a meeting house and memorial gardens honoring the victims.
A 100-string Aeolian harp, a musical instrument played by the wind, will be part of the memorial, creating soothing music and contributing to the “natural healing landscape,” said Stephen Greenleaf, a Rhode Island architect and one of the designers.
