Over 80 years after the Cocoanut Grove fire claimed 490 lives and singularly revolutionized fire safety standards and burn treatments, families of survivors and victims of the devastating fire gathered Monday at a new site to remember their loved ones.

“The Coconut Grove is long overdue, but this memorial will ensure future generations will always remember what happened here 81 years ago,” said Paul Miller, president of the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee, addressing a crowd at a ground breaking for the new memorial site in Statler Park. “That the legacy of that night will always be in our hearts.”

The fire broke out in the basement of the popular Cocoanut Grove nightclub on Nov. 28, 1942, the first Thanksgiving weekend after the U.S. entered WWII.

The club held twice its legal occupancy that night, 1,000 patrons crammed in the space as the fire ripped through. The space was papered in highly flammable decorations and most doors were sealed to prevent unauthorized entry.

Nearly half of the people inside died. Hundreds more suffered burns and other injuries.

“The fire the Grove is still the deadliest moment in our city’s history and the deadliest nightclub fire in the country’s history,” said Mayor Michelle Wu.

The planned memorial, led by the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee, will stand on the site of the nightclub. The design will feature a replica of the three archways that welcomed patrons of the club using 490 pieces of granite with the names of those who died in the fire, Wu said

“This memorial will symbolize our resilience,” Wu added. “It will ensure that those who we lost are not forgotten. And it will continue to remind us that we as a city and a community have always come together and marked profound progress in the face of unspeakable tragedy.”

The fire led Bostonians to set national standards in terms of fire safety laws, advance burn treatments and push mental health and trauma treatment forward, speakers emphasized — a vital part of the legacy of the victims, survivors and first responders.

“We can now look at the tragic events with the lens of positives that resulted — in global fire code standards and novel medical burn therapies that are used today, as had been spoken about,” said Jim Cavan, member of the Memorial Committee and great-nephew of one of the victims. “We mourn the 490 lost but cannot calculate the souls saved by the lessons learned. That’s the message my family and I hold on to.”

The memorial will also stand for the “limitless bravery” of the Boston firefighters who responded and the dedication of the medical staff who saved so many lives, speakers said.

Leslie Kaufman said her 99-year-old mother Joyce Mekelburg, one of two living survivors of the Cocoanut Grove Fire, was 18 years old and out with her fiance when the blaze hit. Mekelburg escaped with her life, but her fiance didn’t survive.

Her mother never spoke about her experience, Kaufman said, and for 75 years, she “resisted coming to this site.”

Related Articles

Boston firefighters battled Dorchester fire that struck 6 alarms, engulfed 2 homes

Peabody home’s roof collapses in 3-alarm fire

1 person injured in Needham as fire officials respond to home

“Now with this memorial, all the people who lost their lives and those who survived and all of their loved ones will have a place not to avoid but where they’re in place to remember and reflect,” Kaufman said. “At the same time, those who don’t know the story of the Cocoanut Grove will be able to learn about the tragedy and the great many advances that came from it.”

The memorial is expected to be unveiled in September after Labor Day next year, organizers said. Updates and news are available at cocoanutgrove.org.

Lesley Kaufman holds a picture of her now 99-year old-mother who survived the Cocoanut Grove fire at the ceremony Sunday to break ground on a memorial to the tragedy. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)
Former Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Christian speaks during the ceremony Sunday announcing a Cocoanut Grove memorial to be built at Statler Park. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)