PARKLAND, Fla. — On Thursday, jurors for the murder trial of the Parkland shooter visited the site of the shooter’s rampage, where they witnessed dried blood in the same spots some of the victims died along with desks and walls that still had bullet holes.
The three-story freshman building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High has been sealed off and has remained intact since the 2018 Valentine’s Day shooting. At the site, jurors saw Valentine’s Day cards scattered throughout the school along with a teddy bear and other personal belongings students left behind that day.
The old building has since been replaced with a new $18 million building and a memorial to victims sits next to the high school’s sign — but what is the fate of the old building and the planned permanent memorial?
The fate of the Parkland site
The freshman building where the Parkland shooting took place will be demolished.
But when that will occur still remains uncertain. The first step will be when the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting confessed killer Nikolas Cruz, releases the building, according to Broward County Public Schools.
The State Attorney’s Office could not comment on when that might happen. It’s highly unlikely before a verdict in the long-awaited sentencing trial for Cruz, a decision on whether he will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison. The trial is expected to last several more months.
The four-year delay stands in contrast to a decision made in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. The elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, was demolished less than a year after the tragedy and was replaced with a new $50 million school. But in that case, the shooter never went to trial because he killed himself after the shooting and there was no legal need to preserve the site.
Residents of that community approved a memorial garden off site from the original school and construction began almost a year ago, according to the Newtown Bee.
The fate of the Parkland memorial
In Parkland, community members have made a few temporary memorials for victims over the years, but the school district has money from the state to eventually build a permanent memorial bigger than one now outside the school.
Similar to the Sandy Hook memorial, the Parkland memorial honoring the 17 victims is planned to be built off site, said Keyla Concepción, a spokesperson for the Broward school system.
The state gave $1 million to the district for the memorial, which is being planned by The Parkland 17 Memorial Foundation, according to Concepción. The foundation did not immediately provide a statement on when or where the memorial will be built.
Demolition now a recommended step
In 2019, Jeffco Public Schools, which manages Columbine High School, the site of the infamous 1999 school shooting in Colorado, sent a survey to residents asking whether the school should be torn down.
The school system had proposed the demolition a few months after a Surfside teen allegedly made threats against the school and traveled to Colorado armed.
“In 1999, no guidance existed on what to do with a building such as Columbine High School,” read a letter sent to the community less than two months after the manhunt for the teen ended near the school. “Today school safety experts recommend tearing down buildings where school shootings take place.”
Ultimately, the majority of respondents said it should not be demolished. Instead of spending the funds for the school on demolition, the school system is spending it on more security and privacy measures.
