Construction workers began assembling the Boston Marathon bombing memorial in Back Bay on Wednesday.
The part of the memorial installed on Boylston Street is an array of four bronze columns, each hammered into elaborate spirals that reach skyward. Each of the spires were hoisted by crane and bolted into position, and soon will be fitted with glass lights to illuminate the columns from the inside.
The full monument will be divided into two sites, one in each of the locations where bombs went off along Boylston Street in 2013. Three granite monuments will mark where the victims of the attack died, and the granite will be ringed by an inscription written by Roslindale-based poet Daniel Johnson.
Overseeing the scene was artist Pablo Eduardo, who designed the monuments. Eduardo said his work will create a place of contemplation in the city.
“Our point was to invite people just to come into this area and reflect. And that reflection, the offering of that reflection, is what we wanted the impact on the city to be,” he said.
The artist said he worked with the families of the victims on the design for a year before beginning the piece. A friend of Eduardo, Paige Farrell of Boston, attended the construction. She said she was on her way to the marathon when the bombs went off and said the memorial will make passersby stop and think.
“It’s going to make us all stop and take pause," she said. "They’re stunning. They took a tremendous amount of time. Lots of hands. Lots of care.”
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The mayor’s Chief of Operations, Patrick Brophy, said the construction was technically challenging and would take up to another month to complete. Up next is the installation of the glass inside the spires, which Brophy said could be delayed by excessive heat or rain.
Brophy also noted that the granite monuments, which will be installed last, are sourced from specific, symbolic locations to each of the victims they represent. The monument for Lingzi Lu, who attended Boston University, is made of granite taken from the Boston University Bridge. Krystle Campbell spent years at Outward Bound on Spectacle Island, and the granite used for her monument is taken from a piece on the island. The monument for Martin Richard comes from Franklin Park in Dorchester.
Mike Allison, a bystander from California who watched part of the construction Wednesday, is a member of the running community. He said he’s always wanted to run the Boston Marathon but hasn’t yet had the chance. He attended the construction in a Boston Strong shirt he bought in solidarity with the city after the bombings, and said he thought the monument would make Boston stronger.
“I think it’s going to galvanize [Boston] even more … and I think it just makes people appreciate the perspective of how fortunate we are as a country, and as a city,” he said.
Chaiel Schaffel is an intern with WGBH News.
