CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Emanuel Nine Memorial, built beside Mother Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston, S.C., opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 14, more than 11 years after nine worshipers were killed during a Bible study at the church.
A short ceremony at the church on Calhoun Street begins at 9 a.m., and the gates open to visitors afterward. Survivors of the June 17, 2015, attack and relatives of those killed toured the finished space Friday in a private viewing ahead of the public opening.
The memorial sits at 102 Calhoun St., on the left side of the church and just outside the room where the victims died. Visitors enter a courtyard lined with white marble fellowship benches. At its center is a fountain the organizers call the Fountain of Grace, where water runs without stopping across the nine names carved into it.
The courtyard is the work of Michael Arad, the architect behind the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan. Its wrought iron gates nod to Charleston craft: Carleton Simmons, whose uncle was the famed local blacksmith Philip Simmons, drew them, and Robert Thomas forged them.
The Mother Emanuel Memorial Foundation raised $25 million for the project, and this courtyard is only its first phase. A survivors garden honoring the five people who lived through the shooting is planned for the right side of the church, with five trees and six stone benches. Foundation executive director Deona Smith said the garden is still early in planning and updates will come as work nears.
The foundation is also opening a museum of items collected after the shooting, curated by historian Lee Bennett, including quilts and cloth pieces sewn by mourners, handmade crosses from children, paintings and mail from many countries.
The Rev. Eric Manning, pastor of Mother Emanuel, has watched the project from groundbreaking to completion and described the finish as a moment of gratitude for the congregation. Among those killed was the church’s pastor at the time, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who also served in the South Carolina Senate.
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