The Tacoma Police Memorial Project:

Inner Courtyard Memorial

Initially, this project was to have one primary sculpture, but after some discussion, it was decided to move that sculpture out to the front of headquarters. Of course, this left a large empty space. Since the entire area around headquarters is normally referred to as 'the courtyard', I renamed the original space the 'inner courtyard' in order to differentiate the two sculptures.

This inner courtyard piece is the heart of the entire memorial. My hopes are that the large, beautiful, abstract sculpture out front will draw people in for a closer look, but, in the end, visitors will find themselves alone, surrounded by trees in this private space. I want them to linger and read the stories of how these brave officers lost their lives and contemplate the meaning of that. I also want it to be a space, that while public, will allow people to privately grieve for these tragic losses.

Welding on the first of many end pieces.

Test fitting the memorial courtyard piece

Test fitting the two components of the Memorial Courtyard. Not entirely noticeable
in this photograph, this sculpture rests on a 500 pounds (227 KG) granite stone.

Connecting the 'stories' piece together.

The polished black granite face for this portion of the memorial is currently being cut. Mounting points for the bronze are about to be added and the uncovered ends will be welded on soon. The intersecting bronze pieces will actually pass through each other; a large notch will be carefully cut into the bottom piece, and when the fit is perfect, they will be permanently attached.

We will add more as this project continues, and thank you very much for being interested.

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E-Mail me with any questions or comments you may have about the Memorial.