The flowers are located next to Charlotte Bacon’s name, carved in stone in memory of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in Newtown, Conn.
Bryan Woolston/AP
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Bryan Woolston / AP
NEWTOWN, Conn. – Bouquets of flowers float counter-clockwise in the waters of the circular memorial pool, bearing the names of 20 first-graders and six educators who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly 10 years ago.
The long-awaited Memorial to the Victims officially opened to the public on Sunday, drawing visitors steadily throughout the day. There was no ceremony, in the Newtown tradition of marking anniversaries and other commemorations of the shooting in silence.
“It takes your breath away,” said Nora Smith, a resident of nearby Monroe, who visited the memorial with her husband, Kevin. “It’s something that you hold tight to your heart because you feel so bad for these families.”
A path from the small parking lot leads down a hill to the center of the memorial – an artificial fountain with a fig tree growing from an island in the middle. 26 names are engraved on the top of the stone wall that supports the swimming pool. A cobblestone walkway surrounds the structure, its outer ring lined with black-eyed Susan flowers. Other paths lead through a variety of plants on the grounds.
A sycamore stands at the center of the memorial to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in Newtown, Conn., on Sunday.
Bryan Woolston/AP
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Bryan Woolston/AP
A sycamore stands at the center of the memorial to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in Newtown, Conn., on Sunday.
Bryan Woolston / AP
With fallen leaves, the new Sandy Hook School is now visible from the memorial. The new school was built on the same site, but unlike the old school that was demolished after the shootings on December 14, 2012.
Relatives of the victims were offered a private tour on Saturday. Others, including Jennifer Hubbard, had previously visited by private appointment. Her daughter, Catherine Violet Hubbard, 6, was one of the children killed in the shooting.
“It took my breath away when I saw Catherine’s name and see what was created to honor the lost…families, survivors – they lost their innocence,” she said. “And the community. We all suffer because of December 14th.
“I think the memorial is perfectly appointed in honoring and providing a place for contemplation and reflection,” said Hubbard, who is now executive director of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary in Newtown. about a day that really changed the country.”
Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, died in the shooting, took to Twitter Saturday to thank those who have worked on planning the memorial over the years.
“Ten years. A lifetime and a blink of an eye,” she wrote. “Ana Grace, we used to wait for you to come home. Now you wait for us. Come on, little girl. Come on.”
Some visitors refused to speak to some of the reporters present on Sunday. Others discussed their thoughts but did not want to give their full names, saying the day was about the victims. Many in Newtown are apprehensive about the mass media rush to town each anniversary of the shooting.
“What a tough day,” one woman said with teary eyes as she returned to her vehicle after viewing the memorial.
Town police officers occasionally stop by the site, which also has surveillance cameras.
Visitors get their first look at the memorial in the small car park, which overlooks the site. Near the top of the path leading down the hill, a sign welcomes visitors and includes a quote from former President Barack Obama as he spoke at the swearing-in ceremony in Newtown two days after the shooting.
“Here in Newtown, I have come to offer the love and prayers of a nation,” Obama wrote. “I am deeply moved that words alone cannot match the depths of your sadness, nor can they heal your wounded heart.
“I can only hope it helps you know that you are not alone in your grief; that our world has also been divided; that across this land of ours we have cried with you,” the board reads.
Town voters approved $3.7 million for the cost of the memorial last year. Much of the cost was covered when the State Bond Commission approved a $2.5 million grant to the town for the project.
The project faced a number of challenges after the town established a special committee to oversee the memorial plan in the fall of 2013. Several proposed sites were rejected, including one. location near the hunting club, where gunfire could be heard, and officials cut the cost of the project from $10 million over concerns voters would disapprove.
Town officials say the memorial will stay open as long as the weather permits this winter and then reopen in the spring.
For Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, the town’s top elected official, the memorial is both a silent and intense tribute to those killed in the shooting.
“When you are in the depths, at the edge of the water, it has a very peaceful serenity,” he said. “You’re standing at this water feature and magnitude… There are 26 stones on the water’s edge, It’s pretty overwhelming.”
