Most designs include Colorado state flower; committee will decide concept and location

By Jeff Kass
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

LITTLETON -- Sixty-five proposals on how to commemorate the shooting victims at Columbine High School have been offered so far, an official said Monday.

But a final decision and construction are still months away.

Statues, fountains, and memorial gardens are among the most frequently mentioned ideas, said Bob Easton, Foothills Park and Recreation District executive director. Most include the Columbine flower as an integral part.

Bill Marshall shows the clay model of his proposed sculpture to memorialize the victims of the Columbine shooting.

"We all have the same goal," said Easton, adding, "There's certainly going to be some challenges because there's going to be a lot of different opinions."

Easton expects that more than 20 people eventually will sit on the committee making the final decision. The panel will include families of the victims, Columbine students, parents and faculty.

Easton said organizers hope to have the memorial in place by April 20, 2000, the one-year anniversary of the shootings.

A likely spot will be Clement Park, specifically near the corner of Pierce and Bowles streets, Easton said. That location, a short distance from the high school, became a gathering place for flowers and teddy bears left in makeshift memorials. Those mementoes are being turned into potpourri and put into storage while officials decide where they will end up.

One proposal for a permanent memorial includes a 7-foot-high pair of bronze hands holding a Columbine flower.

Columbine graduate and Englewood sculptor Bill Marshall said the hands are to symbolize the community's need to protect its youth.

"We do need to have a lot more community involvement," said Marshall, 35. "People need to start sharing more and start being together."

Another proposal is a dry well filled with flowers and a walkway, both made of brick.

Dakota Ridge High School students submitted the idea. They hope to pay for it by selling $50 bricks.

Dakota Ridge is near Columbine, and where President Clinton will visit with Columbine students Thursday.

"In fact, we're going to ask President Clinton to buy a brick," said Dakota Ridge teacher Phil Grindrod, who is helping with the project.