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Visitors walk around the memorial to victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- On the site where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building once stood, 168 chairs now sit on a grassy lawn, each representing a victim killed in the April 19, 1995, blast. Nineteen chairs are smaller than the rest, a reminder of the 19 children killed by Timothy McVeigh in the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

When Doris Jones learned McVeigh dropped his final appeal Thursday evening, she walked to the chair honoring her 26-year-old pregnant daughter, Carrie. An emotional Jones leaned over the chair and said, "It's almost over."

About 1,200 people each day visit the site and the nearby Oklahoma City National Memorial museum. Nothing special is planned for Monday morning, when McVeigh is scheduled to be executed. Officials are treating it as just another day.

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That is very much in keeping with the memorial's motto: "We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."

In many ways, the memorial symbolizes the resilience of this midwestern community. Soon after the bombing, local and state officials vowed to never forgot the blast that tore through the nine-story Murrah building at 9:02 a.m. -- a blast so powerful that the jolt could be felt throughout the city, shattering windows for miles.

The gutted building was later torn down to make way for the plaza and the 168 chairs. Across the street, the bombing museum was built -- what President Bush called a "place of peace and remembrance and life" at its dedication this past February.

The museum seeks to capture the frenzied and terrifying moments of the blast. There are more than 650,000 items in the museum, including photographs, watches, shoes, coffee mugs, concrete fragments of the building and teddy bears.

One of the displays shows an American flag behind glass -- the first flag removed from the Murrah building after the explosion. It was flown from a large crane working at the site during the 16 days of search-and-rescue efforts after the bombing.

In the museum's introductory display, visitors hear an audiotape of a meeting that was taking place at the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, across the street from the Murrah building, at 9 a.m. on the day of the bombing. Just two minutes into the meeting, the discussion is broken up by the sounds of the blast.

The 168 faces of those killed in the attack flash up on a museum display. Then the pictures slowly fade into darkness and the doors of the small room open to the rest of the museum.

"It's really an overwhelming experience, but I really feel very strongly that it's also going to make a real valid impact on the general public," bombing survivor Calvin Moser said after touring the museum a few months ago. "It certainly gets the story across in a very profound way that this is the type of event that should never happen again."

A small part of the museum focuses on convicted bomber McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols, who is serving a life sentence in prison.

Jannie Coverdale lost two grandchildren, Aaron and Elijah, in the blast. Staring at their pictures in the museum, she said she hopes Americans never forget what happened in Oklahoma City.

"It makes you feel like they're almost there, and I don't want us to ever forget those babies," she said.