The families of the five young people who were killed at a house party in Brentwood in 2014 have come together to create plans for a park to honour the spirit of those lost to the tragedy.
A fundraising effort is underway for Quinterra Legacy Garden, a proposed greenspace near Variety Park in South Glenmore Park, dedicated to the memory of Zackariah Rathwell, Jordan Segura, Josh Hunter, Kaitlin Perras, and Lawrence Hong.
“It was a collaboration,” said Barclay Hunter, Josh’s dad, of the endeavour. “It did start with Patricia, a very special lady who lives close to us out in Priddis. She inspired us to do something, to find a project.”
“We started talking about it and trying to figure out what we could do that would really honour our kids and what they stood for in their lives. Over a period of two years, we landed on this idea of a performance space in a park.”
The design includes a stage, community musical instruments, five flowering trees representing the victims, and areas for quiet contemplation.
“Zack was a musician and Josh as well,” recalled Ronda-Lee Rathwell, Zackariah’s mom. “Katie danced. Jordan loved family and community and getting together. They were altogether. Lawrence loved city planning.”
“This park is just so much them.”
Barclay Hunter said he cried when he first viewed the design of the park. “It very much reflects who our kids were and the life energy that they had and what they stood for. That’s what we wanted this park to be. It’s about going forward, it’s about life and it’s about the good things in life. It’s not about the tragedy.”
Shannon Miller, Kaitlin’s mother, says she has already witnessed her daughter’s spirit throughout the planning process. “Everybody getting together and working together to make it come to fruition already embodies what Katie believed.”
The group is hoping to raise $750,000 for the project and, as of Tuesday afternoon, has already collected nearly a tenth of its goal. The funds will be used to cover the initial cost of the project as well as future maintenance and programming costs.
“The City’s been very supportive,” added Barclay Hunter. “They had some options for some land for us to look at. We were fortunate to find this piece of land and they made it available to us.”
Construction of the Quinterra Legacy Garden is scheduled to begin in June of this year and open in the fall. To donate to the cause, visit Quinterra Legacy Garden.
With files from CTV’s Alesia Fieldberg
