Newtown Memorial Proposal Deemed Too Close To Hunting Club
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The latest proposed site for a permanent memorial to the Sandy Hook school shooting victims has been rejected because planners say it is too close to a nearby hunting and fishing club.
As WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported, it has been three years since the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission began thinking of places to honor the 26 victims of the December 2012 school shooting.
Commission chairman Kyle Lyddy thought he might finally have found a spot with the latest proposal.
"It was serene. It was a destination," Lyddy said. "It wasn't something residents would be driving by every single day to the grocery store or school."
But a visit to the site, changed the minds of the commission. Lyddy said it would be inappropriate to put a memorial in an area where gunshots can be routinely heard.
But a visit to the site, changed the minds of the commission.
"A place where you can hear gunshots isn't a place where you can have a memorial dedicated to people killed by gunfire," Lyddy said.
Lyddy says the commission, which has been working for three years on plans for a memorial to the 26 victims of the shooting, has a list of criteria for a site.
He says among other things, they would like a location that is relatively secluded, has no wetlands or other environmental issues and is out of earshot of sirens or gunfire.
On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza fatally shot 26 people — including 20 children — at Sandy Hook Elementary School before turning the gun on himself. He also killed his mother at her home.
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