The first step for The Station Memorial Foundation is to acquire the land where the nightclub once stood in West Warwick.

09:31 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 12, 2003

BY MICHAEL CORKERY
Journal Staff Writer

WEST WARWICK -- A group of friends and relatives of victims of The Station nightclub fire are planning to construct a permanent memorial for those who died in the disaster.

The Station Memorial Foundation has just started meeting to plan the memorial on the site of the former club on Cowesett Avenue.

Group members are devising a fundraising strategy, and most critically, they are working to acquire the land where 100 people lost their lives.

"That site is hallowed ground right now," said Thom Cahir, the memorial foundation president. "That's the way we look at it. We don't want it being sold and someone building a McDonald's or a Jiffy Lube."

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson 100 wooden crosses mark the site of The Station fire. Victims' friends and relatives are working for a permanent memorial, perhaps a park.

The dirt lot, where the nightclub once stood, has given rise to a homespun memorial, marked by 100 wooden crosses. Family and friends of the victims have adorned the crosses with pictures of the victims; they have left CDs and stuffed animals and inscribed poems on the crosses.

Since the Feb. 20 fire, visitors have come to walk quietly among the crosses or to attend memorial services on the 20th of every month. At night, the crosses are illuminated by solar-powered lights, the type that can be found in people's home gardens or along walkways.

Triton Realty Co. of Cranston owns the property, located at 211 Cowesett Ave., a busy commercial road, off Route 2.

Cahir said the foundation hopes that Triton will donate the land or allow the group to purchase the property. He said the group acknowledges that the property probably will be tied up in litigation for some time.

"I think the biggest problem is getting the land itself. It's not going to happen overnight, with all of the civil lawsuits," said Cahir.

"We hope that they donate the land, but under the worst-case scenario, we are operating that we might have to pay full value for the land."

Cahir sent a letter, dated July 29, to Triton, as well as to Governor Carcieri, Senate President William Irons and the West Warwick Town Council, asking for their help. The foundation has not heard back from any of the parties, he said.

Dan McKiernan, the lawyer for Triton Realty, could not be reached yesterday. McKiernan has said in the past that Triton is willing to donate the land for the memorial.

But by giving up the land, Triton could be seen as giving away an asset that could be used to compensate the victims' families if the real-estate company is found liable.

The Town of West Warwick has asked all plaintiffs to agree to the donations. But at least one plaintiff has registered her opposition.

House Speaker William J. Murphy has also started, in an informal committee, to discuss the logistics of a memorial. Cahir said he was not aware of that effort, but welcomes any help and support for the project.

Cahir's friend Michael Gonsalves, a DJ known as "Dr. Metal" at WHJY-FM, died in the fire. An employee of The Providence Journal, Cahir lives only a short drive from the site, but said he has only visited it once, a few weeks ago.

"You feel there is something there that shouldn't be disturbed," he said.

Cahir said the memorial foundation is focused on acquiring the land first. Designing a memorial will come later, he said.

Christie Robbins of Fall River was one of four women who helped erect the present memorial one night in late June.

They used charred wood from the Station -- which she found stashed in a wooded area behind the site -- to construct the crosses. For a more permanent memorial, Robbins would like to see a park with benches and some type of wall engraved with the victims' names.

She believes family and friends of the victims and survivors of the fire should be consulted about the memorial's design. One thing is clear:

"To be honest, we are not going to allow anything but a [memorial] site there," said Robbins, who lost several friends in the blaze.

"There will be no success for anything other than building a memorial there".