Las Vegas Shooting Memorial Designs Displayed at Government Center

Posted on: June 5, 2023, 05:43h. 

Last updated on: June 5, 2023, 05:45h.

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Officials planning the Las Vegas shooting memorial that is set to be constructed on the grounds where the deadly Route 91 Harvest country music festival took place on October 1, 2017, have unveiled the five finalist designs at the Clark County Government Center.

Las Vegas shooting October memorial Clark County
The five designs for the “1 October Memorial” are on display at the Clark County Government Center in Las Vegas. A memorial committee is expected to pick a winner among the handful of finalists before October. (Image: Clark County)

The Clark County Commission appointed the seven-person “1 October Memorial Committee” in 2020. The committee began meeting that fall and has met regularly since to develop the best possible memorial for the horrific event that resulted in 60 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The 1 October Memorial Committee has entered the third and final phase of its planning process. The phase includes the unveiling of five proposals, one of which will come to reality following a final public input period.

The five finalists went on display today at the Clark County Government Center at 500 S. Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas. The governmental complex is near downtown Las Vegas.

The memorial committee by October will make a recommendation to the Clark County Commission about which proposal is best suited to be built to memorialize the many lives lost and countless families that were forever changed on that fretful night.

Public Viewing

The five Las Vegas shooting memorial finalists can be seen in person at the Clark County Government Center Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm PST. The model concepts are in the center’s Rotunda Gallery.

Our committee dedicated many hours of time and effort to ensure that the concepts under consideration for our memorial reflect extensive input from family members of victims, survivors, and our community as a whole,” said Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson. “Today, it’s clear that the design teams involved in this process have taken that direction to heart. These concepts show in vivid detail the power of what this memorial effort means to so many in five unique ways.”

In August 2021, MGM Resorts, which owned the Las Vegas Village grounds where the Route 91 Harvest music festival was held in 2017, donated two acres of the site for a future memorial. MGM additionally operates Mandalay Bay where the gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor.

Committee Makeup

Members of the 1 October Memorial Committee include Tennille Pereira, who chairs the committee and is also a director of the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center; Karessa Royce, an Oct. 1, 2017, survivor, Mynda Smith, the sister of victim Neysa Tonks; Kelly McMahill, a retired deputy chief for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; architect Dr. Robert Fielden, who established the UNLV School of Architecture; Rebecca Holden, public art project manager for the city of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs; and Harold Bradford, a local artist.

A memorial wasn’t set in stone, but following numerous public surveys and input from victims and their families, the 1 October Memorial Committee determined that there was a “clear preference for a memorial to be built at the festival site.”

A motive for the 2017 attack — the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history — was never determined by law enforcement.