Twenty years ago the final design selected from the International Design Competition was unveiled. 624 designs were received from all 50 states and 23 countries. These designs were put on public display for several days and more than 10,000 people stood in line to see them. The field was narrowed to five designs and a final design was selected and announced in July 1997. The design was submitted by Butzer Design Partnership then of Berlin, Germany, and now of Oklahoma City. Designers Hans and Torrey Butzer with Sven Berg created the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial.

Below, you’ll find the concept boards for the 5 finalists designs. We are working to process and digitize the entire 624 designs to display online and hope to announce that later this year. Learn more about the Competition by watching the video below, or visiting the Memorial Museum.