The Station Fire Memorial Park is Open to the Public

The West Warwick site commemorates the 100 lives lost in the 2003 Station Nightclub fire.

May 16, 2017

Via the Station Fire Memorial Park website.

From the rubble comes a place for families and strangers to grieve and reflect. The Station Fire Memorial Park in West Warwick is now open to the public.

The park occupies the Station Nightclub land, the site of one of the deadliest nightclub fires in United States history. One hundred men and women lost their lives in the February 20, 2003 fire, which was sparked by pyrotechnics used by the band, Great White.

The park opening, on May 21, 2017, was marked by a dedication ceremony hosted by WJAR’s Gene Valicenti.

The project began in earnest with the acquisition of the property in 2012. The land was previously vacant, but for makeshift memorials left by victims’ families and friends.

The Station Fire Memorial Foundation raised $2 million in total for the park, which features a large archway and 100 granite amplifiers with victims’ names and photographs etched into stone. Station Fire Memorial Foundation members include Gina Russo, who survived the fire but lost her fiance, and then-Governor Donald Carcieri.

Station Fire Memorial Park, 211 Cowesett Ave., West Warwick.

This post has been updated.