WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The committee in charge of planning the memorial to commemorate the six Worcester firefighters who died in an empty warehouse fire in December 1999 will announce the five finalists for the design on Monday.Some of the 160 entries on display Thursday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute were described by visitors as overwhelming and awe-inspiring.
Some of the ideas for the seven-acre site include lights shining into the night sky; oversized lifelike sculptures; a meditative walking path; a bridge spanning a pond; a fountain representing a firefighter's hose and water; and an obelisk. Many incorporated the duality of the firefighter as individual and as member of a tightly knit group.
The firefighters died at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. on Dec. 3, 1999.
``It's going to be very difficult to choose just one,'' said Mary Jackson, the wife of Lt. Timothy P. Jackson. ``I want it to be a place of quiet reflection and never to be forgotten.''
Robert McCarthy, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts and one of 11 jurors who will make the final decision, was surprised at the sheer volume of entries, which came from across the country.
``They reached out to the whole architectural world for this competition,'' he told The Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Juror Wellington Reiter, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University, was impressed with the quality of the entries.
``It's good to see a roomful of them,'' he said. ``Twenty percent of them are going to be within the realm of possibility and worthy of serious consideration.''
Reiter, who designed the Wright Brothers memorial in North Carolina, said he favors designs both specific and abstract. But other judges, particularly those closer to the events and the firefighters who died, may have other criteria in mind.
The winner will be selected in September.
The memorial, to be built at Salisbury Pond across from Institute Park, is expected to cost up to $5 million.
The design includes the memorial itself and the park that surrounds it. The site is next to the Worcester Fire Department headquarters.
The winning designer will earn a $30,000 prize and the opportunity to continue to develop the project. The second-place finisher will receive $8,000; third place, $5,000; and fourth and fifth place, $1,000 each.
Perhaps the best-known member of the jury, Worcester-bred comedian Denis Leary, was unable to attend the judging. Leary is president of the Leary Firefighters Foundation, which has sponsored annual celebrity charity hockey games featuring Hollywood stars as well as National Hockey League players since the 1999 fire.
In addition to Jackson, the firefighters who died were Lts. James F. Lyons III and Thomas E. Spencer and firefighters Paul A. Brotherton, Jeremiah M. Lucey and Joseph T. McGuirk.
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