Owner donates Station land to memorial foundation

MICHELLE R. SMITH
Associated Press

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- The owner of the site of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people has donated the land so a permanent memorial can be built.

The move brings an end to a years-long effort to secure the site of The Station fire by families of those killed.

A lawyer for property owner Ray Villanova filed papers at West Warwick Town Hall on Friday morning that transfer the land to the Station Fire Memorial Foundation. The Associated Press reviewed the documents Friday morning.

The lawyer, Dan McKiernan, would not immediately comment ahead of a 10 a.m. news conference scheduled at the site of the fire.

The one condition of the transfer is that a suitable memorial be maintained at the site in perpetuity.

The fire was sparked by pyrotechnics for the rock band Great White. The 10th anniversary is Feb. 20.