Station Fire Memorial Foundation raises $2M, plans Memorial Park spring dedication ceremony

THE Station Fire Memorial Park Campaign has raised $2 million and is now planning a spring ceremony to unveil the Memorial Park dedicated to the 100 people that lost their lives on Feb. 20, 2003 in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick.
THE Station Fire Memorial Park Campaign has raised $2 million and is now planning a spring ceremony to unveil the Memorial Park dedicated to the 100 people that lost their lives on Feb. 20, 2003 in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick.

It was an ambitious goal, but thanks to both corporate and personal contributions, the Station Fire Memorial Park Campaign has raised $2 million and is now planning a spring ceremony to unveil the Memorial Park dedicated to the 100 people who lost their lives on Feb. 20, 2003 in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick.
Former Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, governor at the time of the fire and co-chairman of the Station Fire Memorial Park Leadership Committee, said the committee is not only grateful for the Rhode Island businesses that contributed, but also “the thousands of Rhode Islanders who in some way were touched by this tragedy and responded so generously.”
The leadership committee said it hoped to hold the unveiling ceremony this month, but it had to be postponed until the spring due to construction delays.
“It’s important that the park be fully complete to respect the memory of those who died there. The full effect of this unique sanctuary will best be realized when both building and landscaping are complete,” the leadership committee said in a statement.
The Memorial Park will feature individual granite monuments with each victim’s name and date of birth, a gathering courtyard, memorial steps that are “each dedicated to a unique group that played an important role in the tragedy” and a commemorative walkway, all surrounded by 12 memorial gardens and stone walls.
The park is being built by Gilbane Building Co., who Carcieri said supervised both in-kind and paid contractors involved in construction of the park.
“I can’t underscore enough the collaborative nature of this undertaking, which starts with Gina Russo, a survivor and co-chair of this project who has poured her heart and soul into every aspect of the memorial,” Carcieri said in the statement. “She has been supported by a volunteer board of directors and a Campaign Leadership and Honorary Leadership Committee that includes business leaders, interfaith clergy and union officials from our state, working side by side with survivors and victims’ family members to deliver a fitting tribute to the 100 souls who lost their lives that tragic day.”
The Station Fire Memorial Foundation is an all-volunteer charitable organization.

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