JCJ Architectures proposed Las Vegas Memorial is to honor the 58 victims, support their families and survivors, and acknowledge all the emergency responders. The memorial will serve as a place for individuals to reflect, grieve, and remember those who lost their lives. Dioramas are displayed at the Clark County Government Center. June 20, 2023. Brian Ramos
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023 | 1:39 p.m.
The design for an Oct. 1 memorial cleared its final hurdle today after the Clark County Commission’s unanimous vote to select a proposal from JCJ Architecture.
Commissioners voted 6-0 to use the design team suggested by the 1 October Memorial Committee for the memorial to honor victims, survivors and others affected by the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in 2017.
Commissioner Jim Gibson was absent from the meeting.
“It was a terrible tragedy, but if there was a way to remember it with grace and healing, I think they all picked something that was pretty amazing,” Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick said of the design teams who submitted proposals.
The 1 October Memorial Committee was created in 2019 by commissioners and then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, who appointed Tennille Pereira — director of the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center — to lead the panel.
Other members are Vice Chair Karessa Royce, a shooting survivor; artist Harold Bradford; architect Robert Fielden; Rebecca Holden, public art project manager for the city of Las Vegas; retired Metro Deputy Chief Kelly McMahill; and Mynda Smith — the sister Neysa Tonks, a shooting victim.
“When we took this role on and we agreed to do this project, we all knew the significance of it; we felt the weight of it, but we knew that we had to do it,” Pereira said. “Our intention for this has always been to bring healing to our community, and I believe that we have done that, and now I feel that we are kind of passing the ball back to the commissioners and the county and we’re hoping that you’ll run with it.”
In July 2022, the 1 October Memorial Committee and county leaders began the first phase of the 18-month process to gather ideas and select a design to recommend to the commission.
The committee put out calls for creative expressions from the public and a request for qualifications from international architecture teams and evaluators to help with reviewing the submissions.
Five teams moved on to the final competition: Aaron Neubert Architects + studioStigsgaard, JCJ Architecture, Olin + Andy Scott, Paul Murdoch Architects and SWA Group.
By the end of May, each team had to submit final design proposals to be displayed at the Clark County Government Center.
JCJ Architecture’s country music-inspired design was chosen by the memorial committee in July to go before the commission for final approval.
The memorial be built on a strip of land across from Mandalay Bay at the south end of the Strip, where the shooting occurred. The attack led to the deaths of 60 people and left more than 800 injured.
In 2021, the land where the festival took place was donated to Clark County by owner MGM Resorts International.
The memorial design is not set in stone, Kirkpatrick said. If commissioners want to change any elements, they can work with JCJ Architecture.
The 1 October Memorial Committee was disbanded in another unanimous vote by the commission today.
“I can’t thank you all enough,” Kirkpatrick said. “I know this is probably a bittersweet day because the committee ends, but the journey doesn’t end because we have a long way to go.”
The county will now begin steps to raise money for construction and upkeep of the memorial, Kirkpatrick said.
