Saturday marks 13th anniversary of Station Nightclub fire
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
Saturday marks the 13th anniversary of the Station Nightclub fire. Thirteen years later, there are only piles of dirt at the memorial site. But by the fall, a permanent memorial is expected to be finished.
Dave Kane is the father of the youngest victim of the 2003 Station Nightclub fire. He says after 13 years, he’s still trying to cope with the loss of his 18-year-old son.
"I guess we could be bitter and angry and not talk to people or we can take what has happened and try to change the world for other people,” said Kane.
And that’s what he says he and the dozens of others involved with the Station Fire Memorial Park are trying to do.
The fire that was caused by pyrotechnics set off during a concert for the band Great White and it killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others.
The memorial has been in the works for years and is finally expected to open in October. The Station Fire Memorial Foundation has raised $1.6 million for the park, $400,000 short of its $2 million goal.
"It’s wonderful and it will be the beginning of a very long story I hope of people learning from this,” said Kane.
Kane is looking forward to the park’s completion but says it’s not being built for the victims or for their families.
"What we need this memorial for is to remind people of what happens when elected and appointed safety officials do not do their job,” Kane said.
The director of the memorial foundation tells ABC6 that the park will feature commemorative walkways, a granite monument and music because that’s what brought everyone together that night.
