Sculpture selected for Memorial Peace Garden

By DAN STONE

The February 14 Memorial Committee has chosen a sculpture to compliment the five granite stones in the planned Memorial Peace Garden.

The stainless steel sculpture called “Remember” will feature five triangles that support each other as they rise up, Jeff Daurer, director of capital budgeting and planning for the NIU Division of Finance and Facilities, said. The sculpture is planned to be installed on Feb. 14, 2010, he said.

“The sculpture was envisioned to be an abstract expression of remembrance and healing,” Daurer said.

The five triangles represent the five students killed in the shootings. Bruce Niemi, a 1983 NIU alumnus, was selected by the February 14 Memorial Committee to design and construct the sculpture, Daurer said.

NIU President John Peters described the memorial as “a place of peace and serenity to all who pass by.”

The memorial will always be illuminated and will feature evergreen trees in order to “always look alive, even in the wintertime,” Daurer said.

The Memorial Peace Garden is completely funded by hundreds of private donations, Peters said. The garden is “a permanent memorial to victims of the Feb. 14, 2008 shootings on campus,” according to an NIU press release from Feb. 14, 2009.

NIU plans to build the Memorial Peace Garden near Cole Hall, according to the press release. The memorial will feature five red granite stones called the “Reflection Wall” that each have a name of a shooting victim and a word from the Huskie Fight Song engraved, according to the release.