PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The site of a building collapse that killed six people inside a downtown Philadelphia thrift store will be turned into a memorial park.
The Salvation Army, which owned the store, is donating the corner lot for the project, Mayor Michael Nutter announced Thursday.
City Treasurer Nancy Winkler has led the drive to build a park to honor the victims, including her 24-year-old daughter, Anne Bryan, an art student who was killed along with a friend as they donated clothes at the charity shop.
Two demolition contractors are charged with murder in the June 5 collapse. Prosecutors say the contractors were skirting safety rules when they demolished a building next door, leading a huge brick wall to collapse on the thrift store. More than a dozen people were injured.
Organizers hope to raise funds for the memorial park in time for the anniversary in June.
Winkler and her husband, Jay Bryan, live just a few blocks from the site. Their online petition to build the park has attracted more than 6,000 signatures.
“A memorial park … would honor the memory of the dead and injured as well as provide an oasis in the center of a dense business district,” Winkler wrote on the petition. “An appropriate park and memorial can provide healing for the many people touched by this horrific, entirely avoidable event.
The other people killed were Bryan’s friend, 24-year-old Mary Simpson; Kimberly Finnegan, 35; Roseline Conteh, 52; Borbor Davis, 68; and Juanita Harmon, 75. Another woman was severely injured after spending hours in the rubble.
Demolition contractor Griffin Campbell and subcontractor Sean Benschop are awaiting trial on murder, involuntary manslaughter and other charges. Prosecutors have called Campbell “the center of culpability” for the deadly collapse and said he ignored his client’s warning the night before that disaster was imminent.
Developer Richard Basciano, who chose Campbell’s low bid of $112,000 to take down three attached storefronts, has not been charged, although the grand jury investigation remains active. Emails show he had been bickering with the Salvation Army over the demolition and redevelopment project.
Several lawsuits have been filed against the Salvation Army, the developer, the contractors and others.
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