On one end of the park, the inscription above a gate will read 9:01. On the other end, the inscription will read 9:03. Between the two gates, a memorial park will rise in memory of 9:02 a.m., April 19, 1995, the terrible moment that shook Oklahoma City--and the nation.
When the Oklahoma City National Memorial breaks ground in October, the 168 victims of the 1995 Murrah Federal Building blast will be remembered with 168 empty chairs gathered on a slope where the building once stood. Survivors, including many civil servants, will be represented by the Survivor Tree, an American elm just north of the Murrah site that withstood the truck bomb's deadly explosion.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation, a coalition of federal employees, local businesspeople and civic leaders, has raised $17.6 million of the $24.1 million cost of the memorial and a visitors' center. The remaining amount will be raised through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC #2836) and other fundraising drives. The foundation expects to finish construction of the memorial in 2000 and of the visitors' center in April 2001.
Additional elements of the memorial include a reflecting pool, an orchard of trees to symbolize the many relief workers who rushed to Oklahoma City following the tragedy and a series of chalkboards on which children can write messages. The visitors' center will tell the story of the bombing and its aftermath, including some of the more than 800,000 items that the foundation has archived, including gifts left at the bombing site in memory of the victims.
Victims' family members, survivors and others have formed the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and Violence, a grassroots group that will develop nationwide programs for preventing terrorist acts.
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