Father of victim wants building to be a memorial
OAKLAND » The grieving father of a young man who was among the 36 people who died in the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire is making the first public calls for the site of the inferno to become a permanent memorial to the victims of the worst fatal blaze in modern California history.
It would be a place for “honoring the victims and (would serve) as a place of remembrance for families,” Mike Madden wrote in a statement to this news organization. He lost his 23-year- old son, Griffin, a recent UC Berkeley graduate, in the fire.
Madden said he is starting his efforts now, eight months after the fatal blaze, because he wants to head off any potential plans to develop the property in the city’s Fruitvale neighborhood. Only the former warehouse’s exterior walls remain standing.
If the site can’t be used as memorial, Madden wants pieces of the walls, especially those with graffiti, preserved so they can be used in a memorial built elsewhere.
“It’s important that, apart from areas of the structure which are valid safety concerns, it should be preserved as is until a consensus is reached on the future of the site,” Madden wrote. Madden also said he hopes a memorial would serve as a reminder that Oakland’s questionable handl ing of the artists’ collective prior to the fire not be forgotten.
Records show that the building, a former warehouse illegally converted into a warren of lofts and a second floor- event space, was never inspected. This news organization reported earlier this year that firefighters attended a party there in 2015 but didn’t report obvious fire dangers.
“The memorial should serve as a reminder of the deadly consequences which occur when the various city departments whose mandate is to serve and protect the public are negligent in that duty,” wrote Madden, who is among parents suing Oakland, building owner Chor Ng, and others for wrongful death.
In the families’ lawsuit, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman has ordered Ng not to make any alterations to the remains of the building as both sides come to it for evidence.
But the ultimate fate of the site remains unclear. Public records show the city last month placed a $2,293 lien on the property because of an unpaid bill to the planning and building department for abatement work at the property.
“The family cannot comment on this issue at this time,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the Ngs, of the call for a memorial.
A spokesman for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf did not respond to a request for comment. There are two memorials in the city for the 25 people who died in the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm. They are the Oakland Hills Fire Memorial Park on Caldecott Lane and a display of memorial tiles at the Rockridge BART station dedicated last year.
Other parents of victims said they supported Madden’s call to preserve the fire-ravaged building.
“I don’t believe the owners of that warehouse should be allowed to build another structure on that site. The 36 people who lost their lives, and their families and friends, deserve a memorial at that location, so this tragedy is not for- gotten in the public’s eye,” said Gary Plotkin, the father of 21- year- old victim Vanessa Plotkin, a UC Berkeley student.
“It would be a huge mistake to desecrate the land by rebuilding or re-purposing the site. A memorial to the precious lives lost is appropriate and honestly the only solution acceptable to the families,” said Lorrie Runnels, mother of Ben Runnels, 32, a musician who went by the stage name Charlie Prowler.
But not everyone agrees that Ghost Ship location is the best site for a memorial.
“I feel a memorial of any kind on that site would be futile, said Sami Long Kopelman, mother of victim Edmond Lapine, 34, a musician. “What purpose would it serve in an area that is rundown, industrialized, and does not draw folks unless they have business there?”
Al Garcia, a merchant whose International Ave- nue shop has a direct view of the remains of the warehouse said that he is sympathetic to the parents but is leery of a permanent memorial, in part because people are still there daily. He doesn’t think the neighborhood could accommodate the flow of visitors to the memorial.
“The funeral has not ended,” Garcia said last week. “When you are eating your lunch, here I am seeing people grieving in front of that building every day since December. I don’t want to be disrespectful. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s painful to even talk about it.”
Another idea for a memorial to the victims came from Uta Jehnich, whose sister was a close friend of 28-year- old victim Micah Danemayer. In a letter to Mayor Schaaf on July 26, Jehnich proposed planting a grove of 36 oak trees in an existing park or a new one.
“Trees have long been a way to memorialize people that have passed,” Jehnich wrote. “I believe this would be a beautiful, enduring, beneficial monument.”