A national competition to select a memorial design to honor the six Worcester (Mass.) firefighters who died in a warehouse fire in December 1999 begins this month, officially launching plans to create a primary memorial in a memorial park.

The design competition is the first public step toward construction of the memorial and the memorial park next to Worcester Fire Department headquarters off Grove Street on scenic Salisbury Pond across from Institute Park. The competition is expected to attract designs from artists, architects, environmental designers, landscape architects, and urban designers.

A jury of 11 people—including design professionals, firefighters, public officials, celebrity philanthropists, and arts advocates—will choose the winning design.

The winning design will form the basis of the memorial to the fallen firefighters that will serve as the centerpiece of Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park 5-1438, December 3, 1999. The numbers in the park’s name represent the fire’s five alarms and the Worcester Fire Department code for the location of the fire in the abandoned Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building. The six firefighters died trying to save the lives of others in the abandoned building, located near downtown Worcester. Their deaths were the worst loss of firefighters’ lives in more than 20 years in a building fire in America, and the third worst fire in Massachusetts’ history.

The Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Committee began work in late 2001 to establish a memorial to honor firefighters Paul A. Brotherton, Timothy P. Jackson, Jeremiah M. Lucey, James F. “Jay” Lyons III, Joseph T. McGuirk, and Lt. Thomas E. Spencer. Some 30,000 firefighters and 10,000 civilians, including President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore attended their memorial service, which is believed to have been the largest memorial service for firefighters killed in the line of duty.

“Our committee hopes to see the best designs coming from a range of talented designers from around the country who will compete as a way to pay tribute to these six firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice,” says Michael J. Donoghue, Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Committee chair. “We have approached this project from day one with the theme ‘A Time to Honor Our Own.’ We know of no better way to do so than with a competition that delivers the highest and best design for this memorial. Our fallen heroes deserve no less.”

Kenneth W. Paolini, executive director of Design Competitions International of Boston and senior adviser to the memorial committee, said the scope and special nature of the firefighters memorial should draw substantial interest from established design professionals and young designers throughout the United States and possibly abroad. “This project is earmarked by the strongest community pride, respect, and commitment to succeed in constructing an outstanding memorial for these six firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty and service,” Paolini says. “The design community can help achieve that goal by offering their talent and best ideas to the competition challenge.”

The memorial and park will cost $3–5 million. Fund-raising efforts, to be announced formally in the spring, will include raising money to build the memorial and park as well as to endow future maintenance costs.

The memorial committee has adopted guidelines for the memorial and memorial park that include:

• Design of a primary memorial
• Bridge connecting the memorial site to Institute Park across Salisbury Pond
• Timeline chronology of the tragic fire and its aftermath
• Tributes to others, including those who fought the fire, other Worcester firefighters who might perish in the line of duty after Dec. 3, 1999, and those who died before Dec. 3, 1999.

The public will be invited to comment on the entries at various stages of the competition. The jury—which will include architects Wellington Reiter, AIA, dean, College of Architecture & Environmental Design, Arizona State University, and Cameron Roberts, AIA, director of business development, KV Associates Inc., Boston—will select the winners of the second stage, including the first-place winner, who will receive $30,000 and the opportunity to continue to develop the project. Other prizes include second place, $8,000; third place, $5,000; and fourth and fifth place, $1,000 each plus commendations for design excellence.

The design competition is being announced and advertised nationally to professionals and design schools. Registration forms and a $75 entry fee are due April 22. First-stage drawings are due June 30. Visit the competition Web site for forms and details.

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