A city arts committee could decide Friday whether to approve a memorial for the six victims of the fatal fire on Noyes Street a year ago, a proposal that has raised objections from some neighborhood residents.
Family members and other supporters have planned a light sculpture by Pandora LaCasse to hang from a Linden tree in Longfellow Park, not far from the scene of Portland’s deadliest fire in 40 years. They hope to have it in place for the Nov. 1 anniversary of the fire at 20-24 Noyes St.
“This memorial actually gives us a new place to go to rather than the old spot where the actual fire was,” said Ashley Summers, whose husband, Steven Summers, died from injuries suffered in the blaze. She is leading the effort to get the “Stars of Light” memorial.
However, the memorial would require the installation of electricity at Longfellow Park. Some neighborhood residents have objected to the city installing lighting in the park without any public discussion.
The project has been put on hold while it is considered by the Temporary Art Installation Committee, an ad-hoc committee comprised of a member of the Planning Department and a member of the Public Art Committee with input from neighborhood residents, city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said.
The review is being expedited because the anniversary of the deadly fire is just a little more than a week away. The committee plans to make a decision Friday or Monday, she said.
The proposed memorial would consist of six diamonds comprised of small blue lights with a white orb in the center, Summers said.
Lisa Mazziotti, whose daughter Nicole Finlay died in the fire, said it’s important to have a reminder of the tragedy.
“It would be nice to look at the Stars of Light and reflect. It would also make a nice memorial for our kids who died tragically that day,” she said. “You know how it is – it’s in the news for a few months and it’s out of sight, out of mind. These kids lost their lives.”
Summers said it would be an important next step in the families’ grieving to dedicate the memorial on the fire’s first anniversary.
In addition to Summers, 29, the fire killed David Bragdon Jr., 27; Ashley Thomas, 29; Christopher Conlee, 25; Maelisha Jackson, 26; and Finlay, 26.
Gregory Nisbet, the owner of the duplex, has been indicted on six counts of manslaughter by the Cumberland County grand jury and on three misdemeanor code violations for allegedly not having working smoke detectors, clear stairwells and a second means of escape from an upstairs bedroom.
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