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Proposals to be released in February or March
By Charley AbleDenver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD — Proposals for a permanent memorial commemorating victims of the Columbine High School violence will be delayed until late February or early March. Parents of those killed or wounded in the April 20, 1999, assault need more time to distance themselves from the tragedy before considering preferences for a memorial, said Bob Easton, spokesman for the memorial committee. "We had a meeting with the families of all of the deceased as well as the families of the injured survivors, and ... they felt it was too early yet for them to be making any decisions on what a memorial ought to look like," Easton said Tuesday. "They basically requested that we put things on hold for a while. "We have put a hold on our process until March of next year, and we have also pulled back the April 1, 2001 dedication date for a memorial." Easton is executive director of Foothills Park and Recreation District. Foothills manages Clement Park, the site of the planned memorial. Easton also is the spokesman for the Columbine High School Memorial Committee, which for more than a year has worked to fashion consensus on the memorial's purpose, design and site. "One of our challenges, quite frankly, is that we have two or three constituent groups. We also have the high school students and the faculty and all the folks affiliated with the school. They are ready to move forward," Easton said. "But we really need to be responsive, obviously, to the families' needs and their comments because that is the key group. "There's a little bit of a balancing act between those two groups, but clearly we need to spend some time and develop a little bit better relationship and a little bit better communication with that family group." The three preliminary design concepts originally were scheduled for release to the public in May. The release was delayed until June, then September. The latest delay sets the schedule back until late winter 2001. An intense fund-raising campaign will begin when the design concepts are made public, Easton said. The memorial will be placed between two hills in the eastern part of Clement Park, which is next to the school. Donations can be sent to The Foothills Foundation, Columbine High Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 621788, Littleton, CO 80162-1788, attention Jean Naylor, treasurer. September 7, 2000
LAKEWOOD — Proposals for a permanent memorial commemorating victims of the Columbine High School violence will be delayed until late February or early March.
Parents of those killed or wounded in the April 20, 1999, assault need more time to distance themselves from the tragedy before considering preferences for a memorial, said Bob Easton, spokesman for the memorial committee.
"We had a meeting with the families of all of the deceased as well as the families of the injured survivors, and ... they felt it was too early yet for them to be making any decisions on what a memorial ought to look like," Easton said Tuesday. "They basically requested that we put things on hold for a while.
"We have put a hold on our process until March of next year, and we have also pulled back the April 1, 2001 dedication date for a memorial."
Easton is executive director of Foothills Park and Recreation District. Foothills manages Clement Park, the site of the planned memorial.
Easton also is the spokesman for the Columbine High School Memorial Committee, which for more than a year has worked to fashion consensus on the memorial's purpose, design and site.
"One of our challenges, quite frankly, is that we have two or three constituent groups. We also have the high school students and the faculty and all the folks affiliated with the school. They are ready to move forward," Easton said. "But we really need to be responsive, obviously, to the families' needs and their comments because that is the key group.
"There's a little bit of a balancing act between those two groups, but clearly we need to spend some time and develop a little bit better relationship and a little bit better communication with that family group."
The three preliminary design concepts originally were scheduled for release to the public in May. The release was delayed until June, then September. The latest delay sets the schedule back until late winter 2001.
An intense fund-raising campaign will begin when the design concepts are made public, Easton said.
The memorial will be placed between two hills in the eastern part of Clement Park, which is next to the school.
Donations can be sent to The Foothills Foundation, Columbine High Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 621788, Littleton, CO 80162-1788, attention Jean Naylor, treasurer.
September 7, 2000
