Columbine Memorial

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Columbine Memorial
Columbinememorial.JPG
The Columbine Memorial as it appeared in 2008
Columbine Memorial
General information
StatusOpen
TypeMemorial
Coordinates 39°36′19″N105°04′43″W / 39.6053°N 105.0787°W / 39.6053; -105.0787
Construction startedAugust 2006
CompletedSeptember 2007
OpeningSeptember 21, 2007;16 years ago (2007-09-21)(public)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Victims' families, injured victims, Columbine students, faculty and staff, general public
Website
www.columbinememorial.org

The Columbine Memorial is a memorial in Columbine, Colorado, [1] that honors the deceased and injured victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. The memorial is located in Clement Park, which is behind Columbine High School, the site of the massacre. It is operated by a non-profit institution whose mission is to operate the memorial and its upkeeping. [2]

The memorial began planning in June 1999, approximately two months after the shooting, for victims, survivors, those involved in rescue and recovery operations and everyone touched by the shooting. Designing took three and a half years. Designing was accepted on a four-level diagram: the first was the people most affected by the shootings, the victims' families; the second was injured victims and their families; the third was past and present students and staff of the high school; and the final was the community and general public. The Foothills Foundation and the Columbine Memorial Committee raised over $1.5 million in donations over eight years of planning. [3]

Groundbreaking of the memorial occurred in June 2006. [4] The Memorial was opened to the public on September 21, 2007. [5]

Background

On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and one teacher and injured 24 others. Harris and Klebold then committed suicide. [6] It was at the time, the deadliest shooting at a high school in American history. [7]

Many impromptu memorials were created shortly after the massacre, including Rachel Scott's car and John Tomlin's truck. [8] The planning of a permanent memorial beginning in June 1999. Fifteen wooden crosses were also erected on top of a hill by Columbine High School, 13 for the victims and two for the shooters. This led to some controversy over whether or not Harris and Klebold should be memorialized. Some argued that it glorified murderers, while others argued that Harris and Klebold were victims as well. [9] Brian Rohrbough, father of victim Daniel Rohrbough, took down the crosses, stating it was not appropriate to honor the shooters in the same place as their victims. [10]

Sometime between November 13–15, 2020, a donation box setup to fund the maintenance and upkeep costs of the memorial was stolen. [11] [12]

Design

Ring of Remembrance

Ring of Remembrance in 2008 Columbine memorial.png
Ring of Remembrance in 2008

The main feature of the Columbine memorial is the Ring of Remembrance, set in the middle of the memorial. [13] Victim's families provided personal statements, which were then engraved in stone as a tribute to the 13 victims. A “Never Forgotten” ribbon designed by victim Kyle Velasquez’s parents, Al and Phyllis, is in the center of the ring. [14]

Wall of Healing

Surrounding most of the memorial, is the Ring of Healing. Designed to "honor all those who were injured, the first responders and all those who were touched by the events of April 20, 1999." [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbine High School massacre</span> 1999 mass shooting in Columbine, Colorado, US

The Columbine High School massacre, often simply referred to as Columbine, was a school shooting and a failed bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher. Ten of the twelve students killed were in the school library, where Harris and Klebold subsequently died by suicide. Twenty-one additional people were injured by gunshots, and gunfire was also exchanged with the police. Another three people were injured trying to escape. The Columbine massacre was the deadliest mass shooting at a K-12 school in U.S. history, until it was surpassed by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, and later the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022, and the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history until the Parkland high school shooting in February 2018. Columbine is still considered one of the most infamous massacres in the U.S. for inspiring many other school shootings and bombings, the word "Columbine" has since become a byword for modern school shootings. Columbine still remains both the deadliest mass shooting and the deadliest school shooting to occur in the U.S. state of Colorado.

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Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were two American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. Harris and Klebold killed 12 students, one teacher, and wounded 24 others. After killing most of their victims in the school's library, they died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassie Bernall</span> Victim of the Columbine High School Massacre

Cassie René Bernall was an American student who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre, where 11 more students and a teacher were killed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide. It was reported that Bernall had been asked whether or not she believed in God, and she said "Yes", before being shot during the massacre. However, investigators concluded the person who was asked about her belief in God was Valeen Schnurr, who survived the shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Scott</span> American murder victim (1981–1999)

Rachel Joy Scott was an American student who was the first fatality of the Columbine High School massacre, during which 11 other students and a teacher were also murdered by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbine High School</span> Public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States

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<i>Super Columbine Massacre RPG!</i> 2005 role-playing video game

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<i>columbinus</i>

columbinus is a play written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli, with contributions by Josh Barrett, Sean McNall, Karl Miller, Michael Milligan and Will Rogers, created by the United States Theatre Project. The play looks at issues of alienation, hostility and social pressure in high schools and was suggested by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado. The play premiered in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2005 and then Off-Broadway in 2006.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Eubanks</span> American addiction recovery advocate and Columbine High School massacre survivor

Stephen Austin Eubanks was an American motivational speaker on addiction and recovery. He was one of the most well-known survivors of the Columbine High School massacre, both in its immediate aftermath and in post-event commentary. During the shooting, Eubanks' best friend, 17-year-old Corey DePooter, was killed and Eubanks was shot in his hand and knee. Eubanks struggled with opioid addiction and later heroin use for years after the shooting. He was the chief operations officer for the Foundry Treatment Center. Eubanks died of a heroin overdose in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbine effect</span> Legacy of the 1999 Columbine massacre

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References

  1. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Columbine CDP, CO" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved July 16, 2024.
    "Overview". Columbine Memorial Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2024. The Columbine Memorial is located in Clement Park which is located at 7306 W. Bowles Avenue (at Pierce St.) in Littleton, Colorado.
    Despite the statement that the memorial is in Littleton, it is outside of the Littleton city limits. See also: "Littleton Zip Codes". City of Littleton. Retrieved July 16, 2024. Zip Code 80123 Area in City Limits Partially which explains that not all places with Littleton, CO postal addresses are actually in Littleton.
  2. ↑ "Foundation Board | Columbine Memorial".
  3. ↑ "Columbine Memorial". www.columbinememorial.org. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  4. ↑ A Memorial at Last for Columbine Killings Retrieved May 20, 2019
  5. ↑ "'This place is about remembrance:' Columbine memorial opens". September 21, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Columbine Shooting".
  7. ↑ "19 years ago, Columbine shook America to its core. Now, it's not even among the 10 deadliest shootings in modern US history". CNN . November 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Shrine and Its Removal Are Balms to Columbine". Los Angeles Times . May 6, 1999.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". denver.rockymountainnews.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ↑ "The Denver Post Online - Columbine - Tragedy and Recovery".
  11. ↑ Reeves, Melissa (November 16, 2020). "Donation box at Columbine Memorial dug up, stolen from site, foundation says". 9news.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  12. ↑ Nicholson, Kieran (November 17, 2020). "Donation box at Columbine Memorial in Clement Park is stolen". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Design | Columbine Memorial".
  14. ↑ "Ring of Remembrance | Columbine Memorial".
  15. ↑ "Design | Columbine Memorial".
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