Scene of Columbine's sadness is no more — in its place are light, color and openness

By Ann Carnahan
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Eyes look up in the Columbine cafeteria now, into rays of hope that have replaced a site of tragedy.

Instead of seeing the library where so many of their classmates died, they look into the light streaming in from high windows and a mural of forest and clouds.

"We've set our children's spirits free," said Phyllis Velasquez, who lost her son, Kyle, to the tragedy.

Saturday was the first public showing of the $3.1 million atrium project that included demolishing the second-story library where most of the Columbine High victims were killed April 20, 1999.

In its place is a 25-foot-high ceiling filled with 39 panels that depict a forest filled with evergreens and aspen, all melting into a sea of greens and yellows.

The trunks jut heavenward, converging into an opening filled with a bright, shimmering light.

The artwork, by North Carolina artist Virginia Wright-Frierson, covers 20 of the panels. The rest are filled with white clouds.

Money for the project was raised by victims' families, who banded together to form a group called Healing of People Everywhere, or HOPE.

Ground should be broken in the next week or two for a new library, expected to be complete by January, said Ann Kechter, a HOPE member and mother of one of the 12 students killed at Columbine.

The atrium was completed a week ago, just in time for the new school year, which began Tuesday. HOPE wanted students to see the atrium before anyone else and thanked reporters Saturday for staying away last week.

Parents of the slain students milled about the atrium Saturday.

Dan Rohrbough would have liked the new look, said his father.

"He would have thought this is very cool, because of the shape and design of it," Brian Rohrbough said.

Corey DePooter would have approved.

"I think he would have wanted something like this to comfort other kids," said his father, Neal DePooter.

The parents emphasized that the atrium is for the school's current and future students.

"I hope the children will appreciate it and remember we did it out of love and not selfishness," Phyllis Velasquez said.

A balcony wraps around the upper level, where the parents of murdered student John Tomlin stood Saturday.

"He actually died in that corner," Doreen Tomlin said softly, pointing to a spot a few feet away where the library once stood. "I don't see how they could have expected kids to come here and actually study."

On tables in the cafeteria, HOPE members set out scrapbooks filled with letters from some of the 8,000 people who made donations.

They came from a Girl Scout troop in Ritchfield, Conn.; from an Illinois girl who held a yard sale; and from a San Antonio man whose son committed suicide.

"Other than the deaths of my parents many years ago, nothing has seared my very soul as much as the tragedy last year," wrote a man from Menlo Park, Calif.

One young girl wrote, "I'm so happy I was home sick from school so that I could see Rosie O'Donnell air your number to make donations."

An 80-year-old woman wrote that she was sending $5. "Wish I could send more, but I live on my Social Security," she said.

And a mother wrote, "Please accept my donation of $5 toward your new atrium and library. My donation is for my three sons. I have them with me to love."