Twenty-eight years after supporters first envisioned a memorial to fallen Arkansas firefighters, they were at the Capitol on Saturday to turn the first shovelfuls of earth.
Johnny Reep, chairman of the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial, was a blur in the crowd as he dragged supporters and donors forward to take a turn with a shovel.
As the names of fallen firefighters were called out,families stepped forward and stirred the scent of wet earth into the air.
“The signal has been given to the families that the recognition will finally come after the years of bureaucracy and the fundraising and the talk. Now we can’t deny that the first step has been taken,” Reep said.
Reep said the idea for a memorial started at a firefighting convention in 1985, although it didn’t get off the ground until the mid-1990s.
After supporters announced in January 2012 that they had raised enough money to construct the memorial, they spent the next year working out little details with Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office. The secretary of state’s office maintains monuments on the Capitol grounds. On Feb. 12, the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission approved the memorial plans.
“I think our patience will be rewarded, and we know how to be patient. We’ve waited all these years,” Reep said.
Crossett Fire Chief James Launius, who has been involved with planning the memorial since the beginning, said Saturday’s groundbreaking was a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’m just speechless,” he said looking at the crowd of families and fire crews. “It’s just beyond understanding. They’ve waited for this;they’ve raised money.”
Designs for the 50-by-70-foot memorial plaza include a fountain and a statue, a memorial wall, an amphitheater that can seat 110 people and two walkways.
The memorial will be west of the Capitol, near the headquarters of several state agencies, including the Department of Education and Department of Career Education.
“We’ve got to get the legislators out of the session first. That’s what’s holding this thing up,” Reep said.
He said the surveyors can begin when the Capitol complex becomes less crowded after the session ends in mid-April.
Reep said the goal is to unveil the memorial Oct. 26 during Fire Prevention Month.
He has said the plaza should cost about $750,000. The bronze statue depicting four firefighters and a child will stand in the middle of the plaza. It was completed at a cost of $307,170, he said.
The statue is now at the Arch Street Volunteer Fire Station in Little Rock.
A list of 99 Arkansas firefighters who have died while on duty since the late 1980s is available on the memorial’s website at arfallenfirefighters. org/fallen.php
There are 14 monuments on the Capitol grounds, including one for Confederate women, one for Vietnam veterans and a war prisoners marker.
The oldest is the monument for Confederate soldiers on the northeast corner of the grounds. It was dedicated in 1905.
A monument depicting the Little Rock Nine is the most recently built. The sculpture, on the north side of the Capitol, was dedicated in 2005.
Monuments include Vietnam Veterans Memorial (dedicated in 1987), Medal of Honor Memorial (2000), Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (1994), War of 1812 Memorial (1917), War Prisoners’ Marker (undated).
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 03/24/2013