Editing Cocoanut Grove fire (section)

==Former site and memorials==
[[File:Cocoanut Grove Memorial.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Memorial plaque in the sidewalk near the site of the fire]]
After the Cocoanut Grove complex was torn down in 1944, the street map of the vicinity changed by [[urban renewal]], with nearby streets being renamed or built over. The nightclub address was 17 Piedmont Street, in the [[Bay Village, Boston|Bay Village]] neighborhood near downtown Boston. For decades after the fire, this address was used as a parking lot. 

Much of the club's former footprint, including what was the main entrance, now lies under the Revere Hotel; only a portion of the club extended out to Shawmut Street. The surviving section of Shawmut Street, and a newer extension cutting through what was the club's original footprint, formerly known as Shawmut Street Extension, were renamed Cocoanut Grove Lane in 2013.<ref name="Lowery">{{cite news |last1=Lowery |first1=Wesley |date=November 30, 2013 |title=71 years later, Bay Village alley renamed in remembrance of Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/30/years-later-bay-village-alley-renamed-remembrance-cocoanut-grove-nightclub-fire/DjYFsLe3BbGEkxOIePp04O/story.html |access-date=2016-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929015013/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/30/years-later-bay-village-alley-renamed-remembrance-cocoanut-grove-nightclub-fire/DjYFsLe3BbGEkxOIePp04O/story.html |archive-date=2022-09-29}}</ref> In 2015, several condominium residences were constructed on the site and designated as 25 Piedmont Street.<ref name="bostonmagazine.com">{{Cite web |last=Keith |first=John A. |date=2014-06-17 |title=Condominiums to Rise on Site of Cocoanut Grove Fire |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/property/2014/06/17/condominiums-rise-site-cocoanut-grove-fire/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102045841/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/property/2014/06/17/condominiums-rise-site-cocoanut-grove-fire/ |archive-date=2017-11-02 |access-date=2016-01-23 |website=[[Boston (magazine)|Boston]]}}</ref>

In 1993, the Bay Village Neighborhood Association installed a memorial plaque in the sidewalk—crafted by Anthony P. Marra, youngest survivor of the Cocoanut Grove fire—next to the location where the club formerly stood:

<blockquote>
In memory of the more than 490 people who died in the Cocoanut Grove fire on November 28, 1942. As a result of that terrible tragedy, major changes were made in the fire codes, and improvements in the treatment of burn victims, not only in Boston but across the nation. "Phoenix out of the Ashes"
</blockquote>

The plaque has been moved several times to some controversy.<ref name="bostonmagazine.com" /><ref name="Cullen0709">{{cite news |last1=Cullen |first1=Kevin |date=July 9, 2016 |title=Cocoanut Grove tragedy pushed aside in name of privacy |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/07/09/cocoanut-grove-tragedy-pushed-aside-name-privacy/DEKsnSwRUDK3fF5YvPWHJK/story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2016-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710143222/http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/07/09/cocoanut-grove-tragedy-pushed-aside-name-privacy/DEKsnSwRUDK3fF5YvPWHJK/story.html |archive-date=2016-07-10}}</ref><ref name="Cullen0711">{{cite news |last1=Cullen |first1=Kevin |date=July 11, 2016 |title=Cocoanut Grove memorial long overdue |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/11/cocoanut-grove-memorial-long-overdue/onZtDCxL2zsmWT4nbDsKgJ/story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2016-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713165845/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/11/cocoanut-grove-memorial-long-overdue/onZtDCxL2zsmWT4nbDsKgJ/story.html |archive-date=2016-07-13}}</ref><ref name="Cullen0709r">{{cite web |last1=Cullen |first1=Kevin |title=Cocoanut Grove plaque shoved down the street |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/07/09/cocoanut-grove-tragedy-pushed-aside-name-privacy/DEKsnSwRUDK3fF5YvPWHJK/story.html |website=The Boston Globe |publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC |access-date=2025-03-06 |date=July 9, 2016}}</ref> The Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee was formed to build a more substantial memorial.<ref>{{cite web |title=Help Build a Living Memorial |url=http://www.cocoanutgrove.org |date=2017 |website=The Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee |access-date=February 28, 2019}}</ref> In addition, a memorial website has been set up which offers  historical documentation and editorial commentary related to the disaster and its consequences.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Project |url=https://www.cocoanutgrove.org/project |website=Cocoanut Grove Memorial |publisher=Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee |access-date=2025-03-06 |language=en}}</ref>

On November 26, 2023, groundbreaking was held in Boston's Statler Park, one block north of the disaster site,<ref>{{cite web |title=Cocoanut Grove Memorial |url=https://www.boston.gov/cocoanut-grove-memorial |website=City of Boston |access-date=2025-03-06 |language=en |date=20 July 2022}}</ref> for an {{convert|18|x|11|ft|m|adj=on}} memorial, originally scheduled to be completed by September 2024.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/26/metro/more-than-80-years-later-victims-cocoanut-grove-fire-are-remembered/ |title=More than 80 years later, the victims of the Cocoanut Grove fire are remembered |first=Daniel |last=Kool |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=November 26, 2023 |accessdate=November 26, 2023}}</ref> It will consist of three {{convert|11|ft|adj=on}} arches echoing the original entrance of the nightclub, where many died trying to escape the fire.<ref name="Farrar">{{cite web |last1=Farrar |first1=Molly |title=City, advocates break ground on Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire memorial |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/11/27/boston-memorial-deadly-fire-cocoanut-grove-nightclub/ |website=Boston.com |publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners LLC |access-date=2025-03-06 |date=November 27, 2023}}</ref>  The memorial will be constructed with 492 granite bricks, each with a victim's name inscribed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/11/22/cocoanut-grove-memorial-set-to-break-ground-in-boston-decades-in-the-making/ |title=Cocoanut Grove Memorial set to break ground in Boston, decades in the making |first=Lance |last=Reynolds |website=[[Boston Herald]] |date=November 22, 2023 |accessdate=November 22, 2023}}</ref>