Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

Learn about the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, which is a place to remember the lives lost and changed forever.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial

On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building endured the second deadliest terrorist attack in the United States. The bombing of this government office in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, claimed 168 lives and injured more than 800 people.

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were part of a militia movement retaliating against the government due to how it handled Waco and Ruby Ridge. The execution of Timothy McVeigh on June 11, 2001, and the life sentence of Terry Nichols are not enough to console the pain that this tragedy caused for so many Oklahomans.

After word of the bombing, Oklahomans began make shifting a memorial around the bomb site. People brought cards, poems, flowers, meaningful items in remembrance of the lives lost. The devastation of what happened will never leave the family members and friends that lost loved ones in the bombing but the memorial that stands in place of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building gives those affected a place to visit to remember.

After the demolition and removal of the Murrah Building remains, Oklahoma City placed a fence around the perimeter of where the building once stood. The fence remained a place Americans can come to remember what happened that day and place mementos on top to show others how much the victims are missed and loved.

A task force of 350 members discussed ways to create a memorial that would forever keep the tragedy that took place fresh in people's minds. Mayor Ron Norick wanted the task force to come up with a plan for the memorial. The task force became the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation.

The decision for the memorial included an Outdoor Symbolic Memorial and 30,000 square foot interactive memorial museum. The museum tells the story of the terrorist attack and how a community came together to bring chaos to hope.

After receiving hundreds of design entries and having thousands of people vote on them, the design selected came from Butzer Design Partnership of Berlin, Germany. The designers Hans and Torrey Butzer along with Sven Berg created the memorial that you can visit today. The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial is 3.3 acres and has 168 chairs with glass bases representative of the lives lost. The memorial also includes Gates of Tim, Survivor Chapel, Survivor Tree, Rescuers' Orchard, 318 foot Reflecting Pool, and Children's Area.

The dedication of the Oklahoma City National Memorial happened on April 19, 2000, which was the fifth anniversary of the bombing.

If you are visiting the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, area, the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial should be on your list of places to see. The outdoor memorial is free and the museum charges a small fee to keep up with maintenance. Visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial organization website for more information.

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