Rhode Island gov. looking to seize nightclub fire site

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Tuesday his office is examining the legalities of seizing by eminent domain the site of a 2003 nightclub fire where 100 people were killed so a memorial can be built there.

Families of the victims have been fighting for years to build a memorial at the site of the Feb. 20, 2003, blaze in West Warwick, which was started when pyrotechnics for the rock band Great White set fire to flammable foam that lined the walls of the club.

The land is owned by a private company, which has so far refused to sell or donate it so that a permanent memorial can be erected. Families of fire victims and survivors have described the situation as a stalemate. A makeshift memorial with homemade crosses, photos of victims and flowers exists on the land. Families and survivors gather annually to remember the blaze.

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Chafee told The Associated Press on Monday that he was open to the idea of taking the land by eminent domain after Dave Kane, the father of the youngest fire victim, called on the state to seize it.

The governor told reporters Tuesday that as the 10-year anniversary of the fire approached, it was an appropriate time to renew focus on the fire.

He said he does not take seizing land lightly and said working with the landowner is preferable to invoking eminent domain. But he also pointed out that the state has seized land in the past for parks and said he asked his legal team to look at "the process and legalities of eminent domain."

"We have to proceed very deliberatively," Chafee said. "I'm very sensitive to the high emotions associated with this tragedy. ... If the families of the victims are unified, I'm very eager to work with them."

The family that owns the land did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Several relatives of those who died and fire survivors told the AP this week they were hopeful that the governor's attention would help break the impasse.