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The second stone came from Spectacle Island, where Krystle Campbell, 29, ran the Summer Shack and event operations. Workers placed her stone one block away at 671 Boylston, where she died.
Pablo Eduardo, the artist who designed the memorial, said the Boston police escort for the Sincere Metal Works truck was an emotional surprise for him. He studied at Boston University and has been living in the area for over 20 years. He considers Boston his hometown.
"It's such an honor," said Eduardo in an interview. "I hope this will make you stop a bit and see what it's like when you walk in Boylston Street."
He worked closely with the families of the three victims and changed the design many times, resulting in delays. The memorial was originally planned for the fifth anniversary of the April 2018 bombing.
Eduardo thought of every detail. Each of the two memorial sites includes cherry blossoms that will flourish each year at the time of the marathon, glass arrows depicting the fragility of life, and black tiles in a diamond depicting the two improvised bomb explosions of the day.
The memorial also contains two bronze tiles to commemorate the two policemen killed after the bombing.
MIT policeman Sean Collier was killed by the suicide bombers as they tried to steal his gun and escape from Boston. Boston police officer Dennis O. Simmonds was injured by a bomb launched by bombers during a shootout with police in Watertown. He died a year later.
More than 260 people were also injured in the blasts, including more than a dozen who lost a limb. One of the bombers died during the shooting, while the other was sentenced to death.
Eduardo said he took all the pain into account when designing the memorial. "Life can sometimes change so violently," he said.
He is eager to visit his creation at night, when the glass arrows come on.
Jake Lewon, the memorial project manager, worked closely with Eduardo. Lewon said that working with an artist for the first time in more than 20 years of construction was exciting. He appreciated the level of detail of the work.
"It's probably the smallest job our company has done this year or last year, but it's certainly the most significant," said Lewon, who works at McCourt Construction. "I can not tell you how many people I've shown photos to."
"In the end, he will be here as a symbol of the city of Boston forever."
Kira Prentice, who works on the second floor of 699 Boylston Street, said she and her colleagues had been assisting with the construction of the memorial since this year's marathon. She looks at the run of her office every year and thinks the marker is edifying.
"It's almost Olympic. It's as if they're talking about torches or something that passes a barrier, "said Prentice about the four glass spiers, wrapped in bronze reels, which, according to Eduardo, represent the way we protect fragile objects of our life.
"It's a party we do not really expect for such a tragic event. But it really blends into the Boylston landscape.
Kevin Blaisdell stated that he was working on replacing windows at 755 Boylston Street after the blast. His son also worked as a janitor in the building, even though he was not working that day.
"It was devastating," said Blaisdell.
He said that he thought the memorial was doing justice to the tragedy. "The memorial is beautiful, I'd like to see it at night. When it lights up, it must be beautiful.
Patrick Brophy, who, as chief operating officer of the City of Boston, helped coordinate the construction of the memorial, said that all parts of the document speak to him.
He said that he thought the bombing had affected all Bostonians. He was part of a group of people at City Hall who wanted to find the best way to honor this tragedy.
"Peace, calm, reflection – it's a nice place to think," said Brophy, who knows the Richard family. He ran the Boston Marathon eight times, including in 2013. His own family was at Boylston Street when the bombs exploded.
"You can not come here without thinking about it, and you can not go through that space without thinking about the people who have been here," he said.
Diamond Naga Siu can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @diamondnagasiu
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