A month ahead of the 10th anniversary of the atrocity, a memorial to the 20 first graders and six teachers killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting opened to the public on Sunday.
The venue, which is close to the school, would not host a ceremony.
On the anniversary of the massacre and other occasions when it is remembered, it has become customary in Newtown to observe the event in solitude.
On Saturday, a special tour of the grounds was offered to sure victims’ family members.
First Selectman Dan Rosenthal of Newtown, the town’s highest elected official, stated, “I think they deserve not to have the bright lights of the world on them.”
The memorial was intended to be a serene space for reflection.
A water feature with a sycamore tree in the center and the names of the victims carved on the top of a surrounding supporting wall is reached by paths lined with various plants.
The water flow was designed to cause floating candles, flowers, and other objects to circulate in a circle around the tree.
Jennifer Hubbard visited the memorial this weekend during a private appointment, similar to some other victims’ family members.
Catherine Violet Hubbard, her 6-year-old daughter, was one of the kids killed on December 14, 2012.
“Seeing Catherine’s name and what has been made in commemoration of those that lost… the families, those that survived — they’ve lost their innocence,” she continued, “took my breath away.” “And the neighborhood. Due to December 14, we all experienced pain.
The memorial, she believed, was “so brilliantly designed in recognizing and providing a space of introspection and reflection for a day that transformed the country.”
Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter Ana Grace Marquez-Greene was killed, thanked people who had spent years organizing the memorial on Twitter on Saturday.
Last year, town voters approved spending $3.7 million on the memorial.
When the State Bond Commission approved granting the municipality $2.5 million for the project, part of the cost was offset.
After the town established a special commission to direct the memorial plans in the fall of 2013, the project encountered several difficulties.
Officials reduced the project’s $10 million cost because of anxiety that voters wouldn’t support it.
Some prospective sites were rejected, including one next to a shooting club where gunshots could be heard.
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