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A First-Hand Look At The Memorial Being Made To Honor The Boston Marathon Bombing Victims

BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston media got a first-hand look Tuesday at the work underway to create a memorial to the victims of the marathon bombings.

The artist creating the tribute, Pablo Eduardo, invited cameras into his Chelsea studio to preview the Boylston Street memorial that's expected to be unveiled this summer.

 

Boston Marathon Bombing Memorials
Artist renderings of memorials to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. (City of Boston)

"This has been a long design process and, as you can imagine, it's a very emotional process," said Eduardo.

Right now, there are tents at the site of the deadly bombings. Eduardo's team is working on bronze statues that will display 18-foot glass light poles, as well as intertwined granite pills that represent the victims.

The bronze represents strength and the glass is for fragility.

memorial light work
Working on a statue that will hold a light pole in the Boston Marathon bombing memorial (WBZ-TV)

Each piece of stone comes from somewhere meaningful. "Martin's stone came from Franklin Park in Dorchester because that's a place where he used to love to go. Lingzi's stone was donated by B.U. because that's where she went." Krystle Campbell's stone is from Spectacle Island because "that's where her parents through she was the happiest always," said Eduardo.

eduardowithstone
Pablo Eduardo stands with pieces of stone that will memorialize the victims (WBZ-TV)

Bronze-plated bricks will honor the two police officers who died in connection with the manhunt for the bombers.

memorial badges work
A brick honoring the officers killed in connection with the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers (WBZ-TV)

Eduardo says the project has taken longer than anticipated, but it's important to get it right.

"We have to respect the amount of time it takes for families and cities to process some of these things," Eduardo said. "I can only imagine that it must not be easy to say 'OK, this is going to represent our daughter, and this is going to represent my son.'"

memorial base work
The base of a memorial for the Boston Marathon bombings (WBZ-TV)

The project has taken about three years and cost the city about $2 million so far.

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