Three design finalists for a new Campbell Memorial to honor Portland firefighters who have died in the line of duty are on display until 5 p.m. Friday in the atrium at City Hall, 1221 S.W. Fourth Ave. The public is invited to stop by to view the designs and vote for one.
The new Campbell Memorial will be built on the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade just north of the fire station at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge.
The city's current Campbell Memorial sits in a small park at West Burnside and 19th Avenue. It was installed several years after an early chief, David Campbell, died in 1911 while fighting one of Portland's largest fires of the time.
The memorial was redone in the 1960s, but the limestone is hard to maintain, according to Lt. Allen Oswalt, a Fire Bureau spokesman. It eventually would deteriorate beyond repair, he said.
Plus, Oswalt says, moving it to the esplanade will give more people a chance to see it and allow more firefighters to attend official ceremonies there.
Elements of the original memorial -- the bronze plaque with Campbell's story and a bas-relief image of him, Portland's original fire bell, two historic street lanterns and nameplates of the 36 firefighters who have died on duty since 1881 -- will be included in the new one.
The final design will be chosen by a city panel before the end of the year. It will be paid for from private donations; a fundraising campaign will begin in January.
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Source: The Oregonian - October 29th, 2009
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/10/3_designs_compete_to_honor_fir.html
