Families renew Thurston Memorial plan.

Byline: MATT COOPER The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - A new group of parents has revived plans for a memorial to the victims of the shootings at Thurston High School, and they hope to have the project done before the tragedy's fifth anniversary in May.

Diana Alldredge and Yvonne Atteberry, both parents of students wounded in the 1998 attack by freshman Kip Kinkel, will announce their plans during a 3 p.m. groundbreaking ceremony today at the school.

The mothers' efforts mark the first encouraging news for memorial backers since fund-raising for a $250,000 project stalled in September 2001.

The original group behind the memorial, the now-defunct Thurston Memorial Committee, completed a design but was dogged by criticism that it had failed to include enough input from shooting victims and their families.

The new group headed by Alldredge and Atteberry - the Thurston Memorial Workgroup - includes Alldredge's daughter, Jennifer, who survived being shot; Michael and Dawna Nickolauson, whose son, Mikael, was shot and killed; Mona and John Walley, whose son, Jesse, survived being shot; Susan and Rick Weaver, whose son, Travis, secured a weapon used in the attack; Brandon Lasher, who witnessed the shootings; Cindy Murdoch, mother of a student at Thurston during the shootings; and designer Jim Robertson, also primary architect for the new Eugene Public Library.

"The families and shooting victims and witnesses had no input" in the first design, Alldredge said. "That was a big stumbling block for me. (The new group includes) the parents and community members and shooting victims and witnesses that wanted to come forward. We have the investment in the event."

Paul Morris, the Portland-based lead designer of the original memorial, couldn't be reached Thursday evening but said repeatedly during the process that every effort was made to accommodate the wishes of all victims' families.

The new group, which has been quietly at work during the past six months, also pins the memorial's success on a scaled-back design, noting that the total cost of the project - $43,000 - is less than one-fifth the original price tag.

"The memorial plan combines features of previous plans but is condensed in a smaller and more manageable size," reads a group statement. "This plan and location will allow for quiet visits to the memorial, while remaining unobtrusive to others."

While $26,000 in donations is available for the project, Alldredge and Atteberry hope to save that for memorial scholarships, relying instead on in-kind donations and other contributions for the memorial's completion.

The group has already received a boost from architect Robertson and Hyland Construction, the builder, as both companies have promised to donate their services, Alldredge said.

The memorial will include the names of Mikael Nickolauson and Ben Walker, both killed in the attack, Alldredge said, but it probably won't honor Bill and Faith Kinkel, respected educators and parents of the shooter, killed by their son a day prior to the school shootings.

"This is about the shooting at Thurston High School," Alldredge said, adding that the families of the two boys support the decision to use their names.

The first memorial committee wrestled with the propriety of recognizing the killer's parents and his victims in one tribute, ultimately approving a design that honored only Nickolauson and Walker.

The memorial, which is still planned for a discrete, secluded spot near 58th Street in the southwest corner of the campus, will also recognize the 25 wounded students in some fashion, Alldredge said. The group plans to use bricks to represent each wounded student. If an injured student requests it, their name will be inscribed onto a brick.

A story recalling the events of May 21, 1998, will recognize both the victims and the heroes of that day, Alldredge said.

The new group also plans a wall-fence feature that would pay tribute to the thousands of tokens of sympathy that collected at the high school fence following the shootings.

Shooting victims, other Thurston students and the public may participate in the wall's design with their artistic or written expressions of grief, healing and other emotions, Alldredge said.

The area around the basalt column would be circular and composed of pavers, with native oaks, ferns and shrubs close by. Other features include a meandering pathway from 58th Street, two park benches, vine maples with huckleberries and pine trees in a semi-circular arrangement around the memorial.

"I have to accept that some people are not going to like it, and some people are going to love it," Atteberry said. "And some people aren't going to say one way or the other."

PERMANENT REMEMBRANCE

The monument, to be located on the southwest corner of Thurston High School, will include a basalt column that recognizes students Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson, both killed in the shootings on May 21, 1998. Plans include a memorial fence or wall with art and writings from Thurston students or the public.

Organizers hope to build the memorial by May of this year, in time for the fifth anniversary of the shootings. The wall would be completed over time.

For more information, call Diana Alldredge at 682-3798 or Yvonne Atteberry at 746-5572. Cash donations can be sent to Thurston Memorial/Springfield Education Foundation, 525 Mill St., Springfield, OR 97477.

- The Thurston Memorial Workgroup