The Boston Public Garden will be the site of a permanent Massachusetts memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, Mayor Thomas Menino and Senator Edward Kennedy announced yesterday at a ceremony held in the garden.
“It’s a very emotional day,” said Ann Simpkin, whose daughter Jane died on Sept. 11. “It’s also very gratifying because the support has been so incredible.”
The city of Boston donated the site and has committed $10,000 toward the design, planning and construction of the memorial, which is supposed to be finished by the spring of 2004, according to Menino’s office.
“By working with the victims’ families and friends of the public garden, we have chosen this site, one of the best and most beloved parts of our city,” said Menino at the announcement. “The public garden is a place where people come to celebrate life and for quiet reflection.”
“Boston is the heart of the state of Massachusetts, the heart of New England,” Kennedy said. “And at the heart of Boston are these magnificent gardens. How appropriate it is that there will be a space here, in this gem of a garden to memorialize.”
Menino acknowledged the large amount of design and fundraising work that lies ahead. This work will be done by a committee made up of representatives from the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, Friends of the Public Garden and various city departments in close collaboration with family members.
Kennedy stressed family involvement as an “essential part” in the design of the memorial.
“One of the things that makes this memorial special is that the city is allowing us to plan with them,” said member of the 9/11 Fund Family Advisory Board Christie Coombs, whose husband was a victim of the attacks on Sept. 11. “It will be a memorial designed specifically with us and our loved ones in mind.”
The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, formed to aid victims’ families in economic and other ways, was instrumental in creating the memorial, Coombs said.
The fund, an advocacy organization, does everything from distribute money to find mental health facilities for families, said board member Candy Altman.
“I’m thrilled that everyone from the beginning was willing to make this a priority — I think it’s perfect,” she said of the memorial.
Blake Allison, whose wife Anna died one year ago tomorrow, agreed the memorial is an appropriate commemoration.
“It’s great to be associated with a spot that’s so important historically — to be here and know there will be a tribute to my wife. To me, gardens are very hopeful things,” he said. “They grow and flourish every year and give us a way to look forward to better things.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
