Surfside changes memorial design chosen by victims' families
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A rendering of Surfside's Champlain Towers collapse memorial water wall featuring two clasped hands and the message "Love Lives On." Courtesy: Keith and Town of Surfside
Surfside is moving forward with a memorial to the victims of the Champlain Towers South collapse, but the approved design differs from what a family-led memorial committee proposed.
The big picture: The 88th Street memorial park project has already faced delays and had its funding reduced to avoid a voter referendum.
- Now, a new group of commissioners has overruled design choices made by some of the family members of the 98 victims who died in the 2021 collapse.
Driving the news: The memorial committee decided last year that the memorial should include a roughly 15-foot-tall water feature depicting the collapsed building and integrate pieces of rubble throughout the project.
- Last month, Surfside commissioners voted 3-2 to replace the image of the collapsed building with a depiction of two clasped hands alongside the names of the 98 victims.
- They also voted to reduce the use of rubble in the park's landscaping, which the town called a public-safety hazard. (The memorial will still include 13 pillars created out of collapse debris.)
What they're saying: In an emailed statement to Axios, Mayor Shlomo Danzinger said the redesign reflects "broader feedback gathered from the community, including families, survivors, first responders, and residents."
- Danzinger declined to say how many family members he had heard from who opposed the design or provide email correspondence showing their displeasure.
- He said the use of rubble from the collapse site "caused unnecessary pain to families, survivors, and residents who pass by the site every day."
- "This memorial is meant to honor those we lost with dignity, not to reopen wounds each time someone walks by."
Zoom in: Following the July 28 meeting, acting town manager Mario Diaz emailed the memorial committee members to thank them, inform them of the design changes, and dissolve the committee.
- Martin Langesfeld, a committee member whose sister Nicky, 26, and brother-in-law Luis Sadovnic, 28, died in the collapse, said the committee should have been consulted before the design change.
- "You do not erase history because the truth is uncomfortable. A memorial exists to preserve the reality of what happened and show respect."
Friction point: During the July meeting, Danzinger downplayed family support for the original design, claiming that it had been "pushed by one or two family members."
- Danzinger said the committee's role was to provide input, which he said the town considered and adopted in many cases, but "there are certain elements that offended others."
- "We're the ones that live here. We're the ones that have to see it every time we have to walk to the beach."
Langesfeld called Danzinger's remarks "inaccurate and insulting" in a statement to Axios, adding that the original design had emerged from "years of extensive family and community input."
- He said the collapse image was intended to make visitors feel what he and other family members felt on the night of the tragedy.
- "The truth is disturbing because the reality was disturbing. So is visiting my sister at her grave."