Source: JORDAN GONZALEZ / Getty
CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) –
It began with the picnic table-style benches being moved from under the gazebo — benches where a man sat and called police to say that a person was playing with and pointing a gun.
That person was Tamir Rice, who later sat on those benches before police arrived and fatally shot him.
INTERACTIVE: Tamir Rice Timeline
In the days after the shooting, the gazebo became a memorial with candles, teddy bears, and flowers. They were moved to a memorial butterfly garden nearby and will stay in Cleveland when the gazebo is deconstructed and shipped to a Chicago museum.
“I think it needs to transcend to a place and point where it is a point of reminder and memory,” said former Councilman Jay Westbrook, when asked whether the gazebo staying in Cleveland would be a reminder of negatives as opposed to somewhere where there could be more of a historical perspective.
Though the shingles were damaged in removal, they will be saved. Board by board the entire unit, already marked for reconstruction, will be taken down. Work Wednesday was on and off because of rain that made the roof slippery.
Weather permitting, the work will take the rest of the week and the parts will be on their way to Chicago.
“You cannot and will not forget Tamir Rice,” said Major Herbert Stokes of the Black Man’s Army. “What he did — he shook up a city, he shook up the city of Cleveland.”
READ MORE: Cleveland19.com
Article Courtesy of WOIO Cleveland 19 News
Picture Courtesy of Getty Images
Video Courtesy of Facebook and WOIO Cleveland 19 News
