FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The memorial to honor those who died in the 2018
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland has broken
ground and much of the first phase of landscaping is complete.
But the foundation is waiting for more donations before construction can
proceed.
Members of the Parkland 17 Memorial Foundation said they expect this to be a
multimillion-dollar project, but costs have yet to be finalized. The
proceeds will cover the price of construction and future maintenance.
“Every bit of money is going to help build this amazing memorial,” said
Michael Moser, the foundation chair and the Coral Springs deputy fire chief.
“We are certainly looking in any direction to be able to successfully raise
the money that we need.”
Since the memorial design was chosen in February, the foundation has
implemented multiple changes to the site, a 1-acre field on the border of
Parkland and Coral Springs at the former Heron Bay Golf Club.
Moser said pipes to support water, electricity and gas have been brought in
and that the previously uneven golf course terrain has been leveled. The
tiled walkway and the base of the memorial have also been built, including
17 squares — one for each of the students and staff members who were killed
in the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018.
The landscaping that’s been done was accomplished, in part, through the
organization’s partnership with the North Springs Improvement District.
Moser said the district donated supplies, such as pipes, and used dirt from
other projects to build the berm for the memorial.
“It does look completely different than it did before,” he said. “And it’s
because of that earthwork that they had to do.”
The North Springs Improvement District also is establishing a nature
preserve within the site that will surround the memorial. It will include a
welcome center, art installments and walking paths. Two silver bird
sculptures have already been placed on the grounds.
The foundation’s vice chairman Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina died in
the shooting, said the memorial is being built within the nature preserve so
people don’t have to see it if they don’t want to.
“We think that it should be an intentional act to come visit the memorial,”
he said. “We’re not ashamed of it, by any means, but again, not everybody
wants to remember what happened. Some people look at it as memorializing the
tragedy, whereas we look at it as memorializing the victims.”
Montalto is also a liaison to the victims’ families for the foundation.
Through that role, he worked with the families on selecting the design for
the memorial. The chosen plan was developed by Gordon Huether, of Gordon
Huether Studio in Napa, Calif., and is based around concentric circles.
“Personally, for my family,” Montalto said, “it’s important to have each
individual recognized as well as have it recognized that they were
unfortunately taken from us together.”
There will be 17 limestone obelisks that will include the names and
information of the victims on them. A water fountain will sit at the center
of the structure, and 17 royal palm trees plus an outer seating wall will
border the outside of the pillars for the victims. A poem will also be
engraved on the plaza.
Montalto said the timeline for completion of the memorial is contingent upon
donations. The foundation is currently fundraising before proceeding with
construction.
Other memorials for similar tragedies often take a decade before completion
and can cost at least $10 million, Montalto said. He’s aiming for the
Parkland memorial to come in under that.
“We hope that people will be able to donate what they can so that we can
have this important memorial in place where people will have a chance to
come and remember the victims again for who they were — remember their
smiles and their laughter — rather than the way they were taken from this
world,” he said.
Donations can be submitted online at https://parkland17.org/donate/.
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