Station fire families want fire site

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - Family members of those killed in The Station nightclub fire will ask the West Warwick Town Council to take the site by eminent domain so they can build a memorial there.

David Kane says he will represent the families during Tuesday evening's meeting. Kane's son, Nicholas O'Neill, was the youngest of those killed in the fire.

• 2003 Station Nightclub Fire photo gallery

In all, 100 people were killed in the 2003 fire and 200 were hurt.

A temporary memorial sprung up at the site nearly immediately. However, more than eight years later the makeshift memorial is still there and several family members have established a foundation to build something permanent.

They say the company that owns the property had promised to hand over the land years ago. The company disputes that.

Kane says if there is an easier way to get the land than eminent domain , the group is open to it.

"This project has been stopped dead in its tracks," Kane said in an email to Eyewitness News. "Without ownership of the site, this park will never be built. It is a real possibility that the opportunity to have this important monument to remind people that what happened here cannot happen again...will be lost, forever."