SURFSIDE, Fla. – It’s been three years since the catastrophic collapse of the Champlain Towers South.
Families of the victims gathered to remember on Monday.
“There is an empty graveyard where many of our families’ remains simply vanished,” Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister, Nicky, in the collapse said during Monday’s ceremony.
The push for a permanent memorial persists. As it stands, 88th Street will be the memorial site.
Local 10 News learned on Monday that there are three concepts for a memorial site that will be coming forward in the next 30 to 60 days.
“The families and commission will be looking at that and getting a direction on what the memorial concept will look like,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.
Soon after the collapse, there were talks of making the entire collapse site a memorial. That did not happen.
Instead, a developer won the bid and is looking to build luxury units on the property.
There were tense moments that followed in 2023 when the developer planned to place trash pickup along 88th Street after a town resolution designated 88th as the location for a memorial park to honor the 98 victims of the collapse.
“It doesn’t have to be a dump there. The dump will go somewhere else,” Burkett said. “(Families) want a place to remember their loved ones at. That’s all they’ve ever wanted. It’s just dragged and dragged.”
As for a timeline on construction, Burkett said, “Maybe by the first of next year we might be actually in the ground doing something.”