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Florida Scoop · Aug 30, 2026

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*Surfside Reveals Permanent Memorial Design For 98 Champlain Towers Victims* Five years after Champlain Towers South collapsed and killed 98 people, Surfside has released the final design for a permanent memorial. It will sit at the 88th Street beach access, right on the edge of the collapse site. The centerpiece is a water feature with clasped hands, the 98 names etched in stone, and the words “Love Lives On.” That is not the memorial many families spent years fighting for. The earlier plan, shaped with input from victims’ families, called for rubble, concrete, and rebar from the building itself, plus a 15-foot structure meant to recall the towers. The town commission approved the scaled-back version in a 3-2 vote. Families say they were not consulted on the late changes and call the new design insulting. Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother-in-law, said the memorial now names the victims without telling people what happened on that land, or why those 98 names are there. Mayor Shlomo Danzinger said the hands image goes back to a 2022 committee concept, and that concrete slabs and rebar were removed because of safety concerns and because they caused pain for people who pass the site every day. Construction timing is still unclear. The collapse site next door is slated for a new luxury residential project.

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