WAUKESHA, Wis. — On Nov. 21, 2021, one lone driver changed the lives of residents throughout the state of Wisconsin, as he drove his SUV through the annual Waukesha Christmas parade.
Six lives were taken that day and 62 were physically injured. Countless others were left with mental scars that may never go away.
But for Waukesha resident Jeremy Bartlett, it isn’t about looking back on that tragic day in anger; it’s about remembering how the community came together to support each other.
“We want to take something that was obviously a horrible tragedy and turn it into something positive for the long term,” said Bartlett.
In January 2022, in response to the Waukesha Christmas parade, Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly established a Parade Memorial Commission. The objective of the commission was to establish a location, commission a design, raise funds and oversee the construction of a permanent memorial honoring the victims of the tragedy.
The commission then announced a competition to design and build monuments that would be placed throughout Waukesha.
Bartlett, the owner and principal architect of Thrive Architects, entered the competition and on Tuesday, the commission voted and picked two of Thrive’s designs. While Bartlett is grateful, he said he and his team aren’t doing it for the praise.
”At the end of the day we basically want to fall back into oblivion, this is really about how this impacted the community and it is really something that we are going to leave long lasting for the community to build around and send a positive message,” said Bartlett.
Thrive Architects will build one memorial at Grede Park, and the other will be placed on Main Street.
The memorial at the Grede Park location is set to have a 17 ft. heart made of six separate ribbons that represent the six lives that were lost.
“The heart coming together represented how the community came together after the tragedy,” said Bartlett.
The heart will also be placed in a way that, when looking through its hollow center, the viewer will be directed toward Main Street, where the tragedy happened. The six ribbons will also form into benches as they make their way to the main section of the memorial, so community members can look back on the events.
David Raschka, associate principal architect of Thrive Architects, said there will also be a mural wall.
“That is a space that is dedicated to the rest of the community, the firefighter, the first responders, some of the people that may have been injured or impacted by the event,” said Raschka.
The second memorial will be located directly on Main Street and, like the memorial at Grede Park, it will have a hollow heart that will place Main Street in the foreground.
Bartlett said the Main Street memorial is meant to provide commuters a chance to reflect while passing by.
“There’s not going to be a large enough space here for public meetings and recognition and things like that, so what we are looking to do is create a small memorial that works within the Main Street architectural character,” said Bartlett.
Jerry Couri, Chairman of the Waukesha Memorial Commission, said when looking to pick memorials it wasn’t just about those that have been affected or are being impacted now, it’s about the future.
“The memorial is not just for today, it is for inciting people many years from now on the fact that something happened, be aware of your surroundings, be aware of how to protect yourself,” said Couri.
Couri said financials and imagery also played a large role in the decision making.
“Why a heart? Because a heart is here today, it’s here in the future and it is something that humans just magnify toward as a part of emotion or love,” said Couri.
These plans are subject to donations, as the Grede Park memorial alone could cost $1 million. The commission wants to raise as much as possible by March, and if enough money is not raised, there is a chance the plans will have to be scaled back.
Those interested in donating can visit https://wccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4054.