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Man proposes memorial for shooting victims
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - August 21, 2012)
Man proposes memorial for shooting victims
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon City Council heard a proposal last week to erect a memorial to the students slain in the Feb. 27 Chardon High School shootings.
Newbury Township Architect Joseph Linek proposed the memorial with three pillars, rising to a heart, for a space on Chardon Square. Council President Philip King said the city will form a focus group to study the idea.
“It’s a very inspirational and well-thought-out design,” Mr. King said.
Mr. Linek said he was overcome by the emotions and support shown in the wake of the shootings, which claimed the lives of Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King Jr., 17, and Danny Parmertor, 17.
“It’s a professional thing to me, but it’s also very personal,” he said.
While riding in a funeral possession from Eastlake to Chardon, Mr. Linek said, he was “vividly struck” by those families, including children, who held hearts and lined the streets in freezing cold to show their support for the victims.
“Around that moment, I had a vision,” he said, adding he believes the memorial should be set on the southwest corner of the square, where the city had erected a temporary memorial of three ribbons to show support for the community’s loss.
Three paths leading from the main sidewalk bisecting the square would lead to the memorial. Stones numbering the ages of the slain students would be set in place as part of the design.
The paths would join at three pillars, each containing the images of the slain students and an inscription. The pillars will bend as they rise to a heart.
“The three pillars come together to burst out into a heart,” the designer said, adding the heart will bend toward the ground, as though “humble in a bow.”
Observers, Mr. Linek said, will look through the heart into the heavens. A tapered stone wall will “hug” the memorial, and two stone benches will allow visitors a place for reflection.
The proposal has the support of the victims’ families, he said.
The design also came with some unexpected surprises. Mr. Linek did not realize initially that the dimensions chosen signified the date of the shootings. He said the pillars are 2 feet wide, the paths are 27 feet long and the pillars are 12 feet high, representing the 2-27-12 fateful date.
The design is in its preliminary stages, Mr. Linek said. Using a flashlight, he showed the track of the sun over the memorial, saying the setting sun will cast a shadow of the heart over the three paths.
“It’s a way to heal and understand the outpouring of love that came out of that,” he said. “I believe this memorial will do that.”
Mr. Linek said he came to council simply to get a sense of whether it would allow use of the park for such a memorial, not to seek financial support. At this point, he has given no thought to how funds will be raised for construction of the memorial or its cost.
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