Plans for Permanent Station Fire Memorial Get Final State Approvals

Final state approvals are in hand and work should finally begin this spring on a permanent memorial at the site of the 2003 Station Nightclub Fire to create dignified place to remember the lives of the 100 who died, the 230 injured and the countless others affected by the tragedy.

The Station Fire Memorial Foundation, which has been leading the effort to turn the site into a proper memorial for more than a decade, said on Friday that it received final approval from the state Departments of Transportation and Environmental Management. Those were the final major hurdles before construction could start and one last OK from the town of West Warwick is expected to breeze through.

Gina Russo, president of the foundation, told the Associated Press that the approvals are a key milestone for the effort.

“It was a big deal for us and a big step,” she said, noting that patience has been hard to come by for families that are still -- and will always struggle.

The foundation was able to take ownership of the site in 2012 and is in the midst of an ongoing fundraising effort to meet its $2 million target to meet the project’s estimated cost.

Plans for the memorial depict a carefully landscaped memorial site adjacent to a 20-space permeable parking lot. Visitors will enter underneath a 30-foot tall gate and wind harp that will serve as a signature landmark as well as musical accompaniment as its strings will resonate with the changing winds. A symbol of how music brought everyone together that fateful night, the Aeolian Harp is one of the oldest of stringed instruments and will be custom fabricated for the site.

Once through the gate, visitors will follow a curving commemorative brick pathway interspersed with 12 Memorial Circles which will celebrate the lives of those who died with individual memorials for each of the 100 victims. The walkway, which offers multiple routes to follow, is centered by a 34-foot circular gathering court paved in bluestone that invites people to gather and share in their reflections.

There will also be a Memorial Shelter at the site’s highest point, representing the strength of those affected by the fire, along with gardens, individual moments, plaques and areas to sit take pause.

“There are other more subtle details purposely incorporated into the plan that visitors may discover over time,” the foundation’s Web site states. “These elements are designed to capture the true spirit of so many of the victims - friends who gathered together to share their love of music and fullness of life.”

No digging will be done directly on the site of the former nightclub so as not to disturb human remains.

Since the fire, the site has been home to a makeshift memorial as families and friends have come to erecting crosses, leaving tributes and coming to mourn.

In an effort to commemorate the transition to a permanent memorial, the foundation will invite families to place one or two small items from their temporary memorials into a special area that will be covered with a stone plaque marking the date and time of the fire on Feb. 20, 2003.

The devastating fire is the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history and remains a raw memory for Rhode Islanders, who were shocked to learn that its cause was an illegal pyrotechnic display during a Great White concert that ignited highly flammable sound insulating foam on the ceiling. The lack of a sprinkler system and other glaring failures contributed to the scale of the disaster.

The SFMF has a ways to go before the memorial is finally completed and needs the public’s support. For more information, click HERE.