Media Advisory: UB Architecture Students To Present Memorial Bench Honoring Firefighters Chip McCarthy and Jonathan Croom at 7:30 p.m. Tonight

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A memorial bench designed and built by students in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning in honor of firefighters Charles "Chip" McCarthy and Jonathan Croom who died Aug. 24, 2009 in a Genesee Street fire will be presented to Buffalo Fire Department Ladder 7 and Engine 34 Firehouse, 2738 Main St., in the University District, at 7:30 p.m. April 16.

Lt. McCarthy, 45, was a member of Rescue Company No. 1, 1229 Jefferson Ave. Firefighter Croom, 34, was a member of Ladder 7.

Interim Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield, Jr., will be present at the dedication ceremony, as will Captain Kevin Murphy of Ladder 7, and Captain Daniel Bossi of Engine 34. Croom's mother, Angie Heusinger, and other members of the Croom and McCarthy families will be present, along with faculty members from the UB School of Architecture and Planning.

The bench, which will be placed inside the firehouse, near the Ladder 7 truck, is constructed of recycled fire hoses donated by the Buffalo Fire Department, and steel donated by Dick Yencer, fabrication shop coordinator, UB School of Architecture and Planning.

The bench was designed and built by the following UB undergraduate architecture students as a project of the Senenmut Chapter of Alpha Rho Chi, the national professional fraternity for architecture and the allied arts: Jessica Colangelo, Josh Gardner, Lauren Giamundo, Mike Moscato, Billy Rivera and Edward Wilczynski. Adrienne Busch, also a UB architecture student, designed an engraved plaque incorporated into the bench.

For press arrangements, please contact Pat Donovan in the Office of University Communications at 645-4602 or UB student Christopher Brandt, 585-208-1073 (cell).