$2M drive for Station Fire Memorial gains steam

John Howell
Posted 4/23/15

Not all that long ago, Station nightclub fire survivor Gina Russo questioned when, if ever, a memorial would be built on the site where 100 people lost their lives in one of the worst fire tragedies …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

$2M drive for Station Fire Memorial gains steam

Posted

Not all that long ago, Station nightclub fire survivor Gina Russo questioned when, if ever, a memorial would be built on the site where 100 people lost their lives in one of the worst fire tragedies in the state’s history.

That’s all changed now that a team of elected, business and community leaders have come together to raise $2 million.

“It’s doable, it’s going to happen. This is real now,” Russo said Tuesday evening at the end of a campaign meeting in the Kent Hospital boardroom.

Russo, president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, is not alone in seeing light at the end of the tunnel – and it’s getting brighter every day.

“This is such an important thing. Let’s get it across the goal line, and we will,” Donald Carcieri said.

Carcieri had barely taken the oath of office as governor when pyrotechnics of the band Great White ignited soundproofing insulation, setting the nightclub on fire. The date was Feb. 20, 2003.

Carcieri was on the scene the following day and played a key role in bringing together and lining up services for the families of the deceased and injured. He and his wife, Suzanne, are campaign co-chairs with Russo of the fundraising effort. Also playing key leadership roles are John Sinnott, vice president and Rhode Island district manager of the Gilbane Building Co.; Michael Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council; Robin Petrarca, a fire survivor and vice president of the foundation; Jody King, whose brother Tracy died in the fire; and Philip Barr, a survivor who is heading up campaign efforts in Massachusetts.

The Carcieris’ participation in the campaign was announced at the 12th annual remembrance service held March 22 at Warwick City Hall. It was also announced that $500,000 had been raised in cash and in-kind donations. Getting to $500,000 had taken years, and it seemed like raising $2 million would be an impossible number to reach.

That number now stands at $635,000, not counting challenge grants and other prospects being discussed.

Russo said she would meet with landscape designers this week, which she expects to follow with a meeting with West Warwick town officials. She hopes to have a building permit by the end of the week.

That’s not to say that construction will start as soon as next week, but she is hopeful work can get started this spring.

Thus far, more than a dozen campaign donations and pledges have come in. Recently, the campaign received a challenge for a dollar-to-dollar match up to $100,000, and a commitment from Lincoln firefighters to “pass the boot” in a June drive that Russo and Petrarca are hopeful will be replicated by fire departments across the state.

Carcieri believes it is drives like passing the boot and events like a “radiothon” that will heighten visibility of the effort, leading to momentum that will generate not only individual donations, but also the support of corporations and foundations.

The campaign leadership and honorary leadership committees, already numbering 40 and growing, reads like a who’s who of Rhode Islanders. There are corporate presidents, media personnel and elected officials, including Gov. Gina Raimondo, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed.

As for when something might happen behind the fenced-in lot on Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Russo says, “I’m hoping to move forward with a date.” Then, facetiously, she adds she might just rent a backhoe and put it on the property to show things are happening.

It may not be all that long before that happens for real.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here