WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Waukesha Parade Memorial at Grede Park is nearing completion in honor of the lives lost and the dozens injured in the Christmas parade tragedy in 2021.
VGS Construction Services broke ground in April on the memorial. Project manager Joe Jorgensen said the company collaborated with Thrive Architects on the design.
“There’s six individual ribbons, one for each of the deceased people we lost in the tragedy three years ago,” said Jorgensen. “Right now, we currently have four of the benches installed. There will be six once it’s installed. Right in the middle of the park itself there’s a six-sided heart monument. From every perspective that you look in the park, you’re seeing a full heart symbol.”
He said the retaining wall includes over 1,000 handcrafted ceramic tiles created by the community.
“These are individual, one of one, handmade tiles,” said Jorgensen. “All different colorations of blue for Waukesha strong.”
Waukesha mayor Shawn Reilly said the memorial wouldn’t be made possible without the help of the community.
“The reason this is being built because we had a commission of community members,” said Reilly. “It wasn’t the city that’s making this, it was the community members and commission deciding. They picked the design with a lot of input for the community. The community banded together and provided funds.”
Both Jorgensen and Reilly said the memorial will create a safe space for all to reflect, and remember that tragic day in November 2021.
“A lot of people were present and saw this,” said Reilly. “It will be a place where they can process their grief.”
Jorgensen is reminding the community that the memorial is not open to the public just yet and that it’s still an active construction site.
The dedication ceremony is set for Nov. 21.