The Gazebo Gazette
BILOXI (GG) — The Katrina Memorial sculpture was relocated from the Biloxi Town Green to the Biloxi Visitors Center last week. With hurricane season around the corner, June 1 to November 30, the memorial serves as a reminder of the devastation of hurricanes and how important it is to prepare.
The Katrina Memorial at the Biloxi Town Green was dedicated on Feb. 6, 2006, to those who lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina. A sculptural collage was created using found items donated by locals and installed in a glass case at the memorial. Additional items not used in the glass memorial case are buried in a time capsule on the original site.
Over the years, the glass display case at the Town Green was damaged, needing extensive repair. Biloxi Historical Administrator Mandy Hornsby organized an effort to relocate the sculpture to the Biloxi Visitors Center, where it could be seen by the thousands who visit there each year. The sculpture components were carefully removed and reassembled in a newly constructed glass display case, which will help preserve the individual artifacts for future generations to see.
“Having the Katrina sculpture inside the center adds yet another layer of visual perspective. Some of these items were all that was left of Biloxian’s homes,” said Historical Administrator Mandy Hornsby. “These items serve as an example of how a hurricane can touch residents’ lives.”
To complete the sculpture display, Hornsby is working on an information kiosk to be displayed next to the glass case that also directs people to the memorial at Town Green.
“I’m very excited about having the Katrina Sculpture featured in the west foyer of the Biloxi Visitors Center,” said Hospitality Manager Onnie Gazzo. “I hope that both visitors and locals stop in to appreciate this sculpture and what it means to Biloxi and other residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”
As additional reminders of the dangers and effects of hurricanes on the coast, water level marks are displayed on the flagpole outside the center, showing the height of the storm surge during both Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There are water level marks inside the Historic Biloxi Lighthouse as well. And, a Hurricane Katrina documentary film plays daily in the second-floor theater, providing a visual recollection of the disaster experienced on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
(Front Photo: Biloxi Historical Administrator Mandy Hornsby and Jon Lambert reassemble the Katrina Memorial. Inside Photo: Katrina Display glass material. Photos and story contributed by the city of Biloxi.)
