{"id":14989,"date":"2017-03-31T08:19:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T16:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=14989"},"modified":"2023-09-19T14:29:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:29:24","slug":"healing-places-rebuilding-after-a-community-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/healing-places-rebuilding-after-a-community-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing Places: Rebuilding After a Community Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“The only thing tragedy gives us is the opportunity to rebuild our life.” -writer Paulo Coelho<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n
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The film<\/a>\u00a0Newtown<\/em> asks, “What remains after all is lost?”<\/p>\n

Some have said that it is much harder to rebuild <\/span>oneself<\/span><\/i> after experiencing an unconscionable tragedy than it is to physically rebuild a space on the site the tragedy happened. But it is, of course, not especially easy to do that either. Each community experiences these awful events their own way, grieves at their own pace, and doesn’t always agree with what would be an appropriate use of the space where a mass shooting occurred. But it has often become a healing part of that process.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School where the community of Newtown grieved, it was inconceivable to imagine carrying on in that same space. So they created a new space, to honor and to heal and to move forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

This fall, after razing the original <\/span>low-slung 1956 brick building<\/span> and <\/span>receiving $50 million from the state of Connecticut<\/span> to rebuild, Newtown has a new elementary school. \u201cThis is a school to nurture and grow young members of our society,\u201d says Jay Brotman, an architect and managing partner at Svigals + Partners, the New Haven-based firm that designed the school. \u201cAs architects, we aspire for opportunities like this, to build a meaningful symbol that serves a community as well as a global emblem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a beautiful building. With a wavy roofline, wood-and-fieldstone cladding, large expanses of glass, and plenty of art, it aspires to be a safe, inspiring, and welcoming space that celebrates the town\u2019s natural beauty rather than to evoke one catastrophic event from its 311-year history.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are a few other places where an unthinkable tragedy occurred that affected many in the given community:<\/p>\n

Columbine<\/b><\/p>\n

Columbine (Colorado) High School, site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern United States history, and the deadliest high school shooting in US history, didn’t rebuild the entire school, but after some debate, the school renovated the site where the tragedy occurred. First, it\u00a0built a new atrium:<\/span><\/p>\n

The atrium, by contrast, was the victims\u2019 parents\u2019 own solution. The district initially hoped to simply redesign and reopen the library, but the families are adamant that no one should ever set foot in there again. They raised $3.1 million to tear it down and build a new one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The library, where the tragedy occurred, was torn down and replaced by a new one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stone by stone, the main site of the Columbine High School massacre has been replaced with an expansive library that has mountain views and a design for serenity.<\/span><\/p>\n

”Never mistake that it’s just stone and mortar,” said Dawn Anna, whose daughter, Lauren Townsend, was one of those killed in the old school library. ”It’s so much more than that.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2009:<\/span><\/p>\n