CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A new memorial is in the works to honor the Emanuel 9.
Plans for the new space will be going before the City of Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday. This comes more than three years after a gunman opened fire during a bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, killing nine people.
The site of the memorial would be to the left of the church in the side parking lot that connects Calhoun Street to the parking spaces behind the church. The names of the victims would be placed on the fountain that would be in the center of the memorial. There will also be a spot in the back left corner of the memorial with another fountain that would be a dedicated quiet space.
Charleston City Councilman William Gregorie was on the committee that chose the designs going before the city.
“It'll be a space for people to come forward and reflect and feel the embrace of forgiveness,” Gregorie said. “The memorial will also memorialize how we became one Charleston. It showed the world how the Holy City held itself together and took this catastrophe and turned it into a unifying force.” Plans for a survivors' garden and other site improvements are also being discussed during Wednesday’s meeting.
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