Memorial set for victims of I-40 bridge collapse
The Associated Press
Published: January 5, 2003
TULSA -- A 14-foot-tall memorial will honor the 14 victims of last year's Interstate 40 bridge collapse at Webbers Falls.
The monument, using metal from the wreckage and topped with a bronze sculpture of a girl reaching for the sky, will be in the center of Webbers Falls' park when it is completed this summer.
The sculpture of the girl represents the youngest victim, 3-year-old Shea Nicole Johnson of Lavaca, Ark.
Shea and her parents were killed May 26, 2002, when their car plunged into the Arkansas River after a tugboat slammed two barges into the bridge piers.
Ten vehicles fell 50 feet into the Arkansas River, including drivers and passengers from Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Arkansas and Virginia.
"That child just struck a chord with me," said Oklahoma City artist Shahla Rahimi-Reynolds.
Rahimi-Reynolds has been chosen by a Webbers Falls' search committee to design the memorial the committee hopes to unveil during a Memorial Day ceremony this year at the park about two miles from the accident site.
Rahimi-Reynolds' selection needs state Transportation Department approval because of the $120,000 in federal enhancement funds earmarked for the memorial.
At the same time, Webbers Falls must come up with $30,000 in matching funds for the memorial.
Perhaps best known for another memorial sculpture she did for the Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum, Rahimi-Reynolds sketched the bridge memorial within days.
The base will be an oval featuring 14 granite plaques bearing each victim's name.
The oval pedestal will hold a 4-foot by 8-foot re- creation of the bridge using metal girders from the original structure.
Atop the bridge will be the bronze sculpture of the girl, rising off the end of the bridge as if flying, Rahimi-Reynolds said.
Although Rahimi-Reynolds has not met with victims' relatives, at least one of them is pleased with the idea of her design.
"It suits me perfect," said Juanita Johnson of Paris, Ark., the mother of James Johnson and the grandmother of 3-year-old Shea Nicole.
Her daughter-in-law, Misty Johnson, also was killed as the family was driving to the Tulsa Zoo.
