Clinton helps dedicate Columbine memorial

LITTLETON, Colo. – Recalling “one of the darkest days” of his presidency, Bill Clinton wielded a shovel along with bereaved family members Friday for the groundbreaking of a memorial to the 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School who were killed seven years ago.

Standing in an open park in the midst of a lightning storm, Clinton said that the shootings in this suburb southwest of Denver on April 20, 1999, marked “a momentous event in the history of the country that left every parent feeling helpless – including the president.”

The former president received a rousing welcome from about 4,000 people who withstood menacing thunder and a steady rain to hear his remarks. Although Littleton is generally Republican country, Clinton is something of a hero here because he has worked for years to help Columbine parents raise the money for a memorial.

There has been disagreement here, sometimes bitter, about the memorial’s nature and location. This argument became snarled in a broader debate about the role of local law enforcement officials in the crime and its aftermath. An investigation by the Colorado attorney general found that police had failed to act on numerous warnings about the two killers.

Initial plans for a memorial called for a $2.5 million project, but fundraising fell short. Bob Easton, chairman of the Columbine Memorial Committee, said the current budget is $1.5 million, and the committee is $350,000 short.

At the ceremony, Easton said the nearby Raccoon Creek Golf Course had promised to match the next $50,000 in contributions to the fund.

Clinton seized the moment when he stood to speak. “Bob,” he said, “you can tell Raccoon Creek to get the check ready. I’ll match it.”

The memorial will be in Robert F. Clement Park, some 500 yards from the Columbine High campus at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains.

“This is kind of hallowed ground to us and to the students,” said Gary Radtke, whose son was taught by Dave Sanders, the slain teacher. “This is where everybody came to grieve after the shootings.”

Radtke said the memorial would be “a culmination of all that remembrance and hope that everybody wanted.”

The design calls for two concentric concrete rings.

The interior circle, the “Ring of Remembrance,” will include tributes to each victim. The two students responsible, who killed themselves in the school, will not be mentioned. This ring will be surrounded by a larger “Ring of Healing” containing “additional quotes and text gathered from injured victims and other community members,” the memorial committee says.