Family members to host informal viewing of memorial on Saturday
BY LINDSAY FIORI
Journal Times | Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - The Dr. Laurel Blair Salton Clark Memorial Fountain was completed this month with the addition of granite informational signs and bronze etched lettering.
The memorial, located Downtown on Sam Johnson Parkway, honors local fallen astronaut Navy Capt. Laurel Salton Clark. She died in the Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia explosion.
The memorial's completion was marked on May 2 by the installation of two black granite information signs detailing Clark's life and the Columbia crash. Bronze letters were also added around the memorial to provide the fountain name and highlights of Clark's life.
Builders completed a sundial and instructions to view Clark's favorite constellation, Orion, in September and added a donor plaque in March, according to Sue Siegert, chairwoman of the Dr. Laurel Clark Memorial Fountain Committee.
Officials budgeted the project at $137,203, but total costs reached about $175,000. The city paid $50,000 with the remaining $125,000 funded by private donors, said Brian O'Connell, city development director.
The memorial was scheduled for completion in September 2007, but weather and extensive detail work stalled the project. No work was done on the project at all during the summer of 2007, O'Connell said.
"We didn't want to have the fountain out of commission in the summer," he said. "We wanted it available for kids to play in so that left us with a small amount of time in which it could be completed since it can't be done in the cold."
The bronze letters and granite signs also needed to be custom-made and fitted to the existing fountain, which added to work time, according to O'Connell.
Clark worked as an astronaut and NASA mission specialist for about six years, during which she logged nearly 16 days in space. She died on Feb. 1, 2003, with the rest of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew as the shuttle broke up over Texas en route to a Florida landing.
"It's important that Racine recognize and remember Laurel," Siegert said. "Many of us would say the town we were born in is our hometown, but not Laurel. She would say Racine."
Though born in Iowa, Clark considered Racine her home. She attended Horlick High School, graduated from the University of Wisconsin and married husband Jonathon Clark at the DeKoven Center.
"She very much felt Wisconsin was her home state," said Clark's mother, Marge Brown.
Brown and other family members will host an informal viewing of the memorial at 4 p.m. Saturday. The fountain is turned on for the summer months and open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
IF YOU GO
What: Dr. Laurel Blair Salton Clark Memorial Fountain, where kids can play and learn
Where: Sam Johnson Parkway Downtown
When: All summer 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Cost: Free