29/02/12..Design revealed for a Memorial to Thame’s lost youth

A SPECIAL memorial for the lost youth of Thame, came a step closer on Saturday (25/02) when its design was revealed to the public for the first time.

BBC Oxford was at Thame town hall to record the occasion which was featured in its news bulletins and magazine programmes over the weekend.

Michael Gibbs’s design is based on the concepts of Infinity and Reflection has been created from of a four tonne block of white Carrera Marble and will be located at the narrowing end of the Memorial Gardens in the Upper High Street. The piece will be mounted at floor level, designed to encourage direct interaction, and is intentionally without detailed features so that it can represent whatever is in the mind of the beholder.

Semi circular benches in the area have been designed to work with a water feature which will be situated at the centre of the seating area to encourage groups to sit, engage with each other, share their thoughts, their experiences and possibly, their loss. The water feature will have a seating platform around its outer edge made from the same honed stone used for the floor paving, as if it was risen from the floor.

The water feature will contain a black granite top with the water pumped from the centre, trickling gently over the surface – much like an Infinity pool- returning to a recirculating tank. The walls will be constructed from the same contrasting natural stone planned to be used to pave the access pathways. An Infinity Memorial band will encircle the water feature.

Inlaid within the natural stone, the granite Memorial band will be segmented and engraved at the request of affected families wishing to remember their loved one in this way. The same granite is used for the water feature and the Memorial band, ensuring that the visual impacts are of the pieces themselves. Within the smaller loop of the Infinity Band will be a stone engraved with ?Thame Youth Memorial? and the date that it was established.

To read more about the memorial, its history and the ethos behind the establishment of a Thame Youth Memorial, visit the charity’s website: http://thameyouthmemorial.org/