Sundial Memorial to Honor Alaska Air Crash Victims

A giant sundial will adorn Port Hueneme Beach Park, serving as a memorial to the 88 people who died in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

The design, by Santa Barbara artist James “Bud” Bottom, will include the names of all the victims, as well as images of dolphins. Families of the victims selected Bottoms’ design from 39 submissions.

“We tried to choose something that would appeal to all people,” said Madeline Ryan, who lost four family members in the Jan. 31, 2000, crash.

The Port Hueneme City Council approved the general design at its Wednesday night meeting, which was attended by relatives of some victims. The planned site for the memorial is on the east side of the pier near Parking Lot B.

Although Alaska Airlines is expected to pay for the project, which will cost at least $250,000, the city probably will be responsible for its maintenance.

The memorial will feature a raised concrete slab about 20 feet in diameter. The names of the victims will circle the base of the sundial, under the shadow of its 11-foot-tall bronze arm. Every year on Jan. 31, about the time of the crash, the shadow will cross a special plaque on the dial’s face.

Although images of dolphins will be included in the memorial, families have yet to vote on where they will be placed. In one design, the dolphin sculptures leap out from the dial. In another, they circle an opening in the sundial’s arm.

Dolphins are an important element because according to legend, the marine mammals help transport the souls of people lost at sea, Ryan said. In addition, on the one-year memorial of the crash, a boat ferrying families to the crash site off Anacapa Island was surrounded by a pod of about 1,000 dolphins, she said.

“That made it really, really special for us,” Ryan said.

The families scouted several sites for the memorial, said Greg Brown, the city’s director of community development. The sundial design is appealing because it fulfills several functions, Brown said.

“Not only is it a memorial, but it also serves as this public art,” he said. The families wanted to choose a memorial that would also thank the city that acted as a base of operations after the crash, said Tom Crane, co-chairman of the families’ memorial planning committee.

“Port Hueneme is a very special place in all of our hearts,” Crane said. “We wanted a work of art, a thing of beauty.”

Other design entries included human figures, fountains or abstract shapes, he said.

Choosing a final design was difficult, but the sundial has a certain timelessness, said Marianne Busche, who lost her son and daughter-in-law in the crash.

“We’re very happy with it,” Busche said. “It’s a very interactive monument.” Every year, Busche and her husband travel from their home in Washington to Palm Springs, and Port Hueneme is on the way.

“We probably will stop here often,” she said.

Once the city completes its approval processes, Decker Studios in North Hollywood will begin casting the monument.

“When we get the full go-ahead . . . it takes approximately six months to complete the entire project,” said Sanford Decker.