<!-- Note: site is not listed in IUCN database, but appears to conform with Category V -->

The Oklahoma City National Memorial is a memorial site in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, that honors the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were affected by the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. It is situated on the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was damaged in the bombing and was soon after torn down to make way for the memorial. The building was located on NW 5th Street between N. Robinson Avenue and N. Harvey Avenue.

The national memorial was authorized on October 9, 1997, by President Bill Clinton's signing of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Act of 1997. It was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places the same day.

Months after the attack, Mayor Ron Norick appointed a task force to look into the creation of a permanent memorial where the Murrah building once stood. The Task Force called for 'a symbolic outdoor memorial', a Memorial Museum, and for the creation of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. Six hundred and twenty four designs were submitted for the memorial. In July 1997 a design by Butzer Design Partnership, consisting of husband and wife Hans and Torrey Butzer, was chosen.

In October 1997, President Bill Clinton signed law creating the Oklahoma City National Memorial to be operated by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust. The total cost of the memorial was $29.1 million ($55,140,783.18 in 2023): $10 million for the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial, $7 million for the Memorial Museum, $5 million for the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and the rest for other costs. The Oklahoma City National Memorial since its opening has seen over 4.4 million visitors to the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial and 1.6 million visitors to the Memorial Museum.

:The outside of each gate bears this inscription:

<div align="center">

We come here to remember

Those who were killed, those who survived and those who changed forever.

May all who leave here know the impact of violence.

May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.

</div>

  • Reflecting Pool: a thin layer of water flows over polished black granite to form the pool, which runs east to west down the center of the Memorial (also see reflecting pool) on what was once Fifth Street. Although the pool is flowing, visitors are able to see a mirror image of themselves in the water. Visitors seeing their reflections are said to be seeing "someone changed forever by what happened here." The chairs are also grouped according to the blast pattern, with the most chairs nearest the most heavily damaged portion of the building. The westernmost column of five chairs represents the five people who died but were not in the Murrah Building (two in the Water Resources Board building, one in the Athenian Building, one outside near the building, and one rescuer). The 19 smaller chairs represent the children killed in the bombing. Three unborn children died along with their mothers, and they are listed on their mothers' chairs beneath their mothers' names.
  • The Memorial Fence: a chain link fence was installed around the area that is now the Reflecting Pool and the Field of Empty Chairs to protect the site from damage and visitors from injury. The Fence stood for more than four years, becoming notable as the place where visitors left stuffed animals, poems, keychains, and other items as tributes. During the construction of the Outdoor Memorial, 210 feet (64 m) of the Fence was moved to the west side of the Memorial, along the 9:03 side or the 'healing' side. The remainder of the Fence is in storage. Visitors may still leave small items along and in the Fence; the mementos are periodically collected, cataloged, and stored. The altar is made from church stones damaged by the bombing. A substantial portion of the funding for the chapel was provided by the Jewish community.
  • And Jesus Wept: across the street from the 9:03 gate is a sculpture of Jesus weeping erected by St. Joseph's Catholic Church, one of the first brick-and-mortar churches built in the city. Jesus faces away from the devastation, covering his face with his hand. In front of Jesus is a wall with 168 gaps in it, representing the voids left by each life lost.

See also

  • List of national memorials of the United States

References

;Bibliography

  • The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
  • Oklahoma City National Memorial Official website
  • NPS website: Oklahoma City National Memorial
  • NewsOK.com report and archive on the Oklahoma City Bombing
  • Aerial view of the Memorial: Google Maps
  • Delta Fountains' technical overview of the reflecting pool: Reflecting Pool Overview
  • Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum on AdventureRoad.com Visitor Information & Travel Planning