9/11 Memorial Designer to Create Charleston Church Memorial
The architect who designed the 9/11 Memorial in New York has been asked to create a memorial to honor the victims of the Charleston shooting. The planners of the memorial announced their choice of Michael Arad on Saturday during the second anniversary of the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina.
The highlight of the commemoration was the "Hate Won't Win" unity walk which began on King and Calhoun Streets and ended at the Gallard Center lawn. The participants sang "Amazing Grace" as they walked, with the church bells ringing nine times as they passed.
The activity was done in honor of the nine worshippers who were killed during a Wednesday night Bible Study on June 17, 2015. The incident was considered a hate crime perpetrated by Dylan Roof, who is white, as all of his victims were blacks. He is now serving time at a federal prison in Indiana.
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Arad used to be an unknown young architect who shot to fame after winning the design competition for the World Trade Center Memorial in 2004. Now, he will design the memorial on church grounds which will serve as a reminder of the church members' resiliency.
Emanuel AME is historic, being the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the South. But its building is showing signs of deterioration due to termites and chipping paint. Even the bullet holes on the walls haven't been repaired. Some members are calling for a rehabilitation of the church.
Along with it, they wanted to totally renovate the hall because the wood-paneled walls and round white tables remind them of the massacre. But others, including the pastor, Rev. Eric Manning, want it restored to look the same. Meanwhile, the Bible study is now held upstairs in the church sanctuary to spare members from reliving the horror every week.
