People gather in the rotunda at the Clark County Government Center to see the final renderings and design of a permanent memorial that will soon be constructed at the site of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | 12:02 p.m.
The Clark County Commission today approved the nonprofit Vegas Strong Fund to raise money for, design and build the 1 October Memorial.
The permanent memorial would be built on the South end of the Strip near the site of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting that immediately claimed the lives of 58 and wounded hundreds of others.
County Manager Kevin Schiller said the Vegas Strong Fund will oversee the completion of the memorial, but the county will still partner with the group.
Since 2021, the county’s Parks and Recreation director has been accepting individual donations for the 1 October Memorial Fund.
As of March 2024, nearly $144,000 in donations have been received, the county said. The money has been shifted to be managed by the Vegas Strong Fund, led by directors Jan Jones Blackhurst, Punam Mathur and Virginia Valentine.
The county commission in September chose JCJ Architecture as the primary designer for the memorial. No construction timeline has been set, and Commissioner Jim Gibson said more money must be raised.
“We have a beautiful concept for a memorial that reflects an extensive amount of community engagement thanks to the efforts of our 1 October Memorial Committee,” said Gibson, whose district includes the festival site at the corner of East Reno Avenue and Giles Street. “The next big step in this process is to raise money to build the project, and we believe the Vegas Strong Fund is the right nonprofit group to help us create a world-class memorial that honors all those affected by the events of 1 October and celebrates the resiliency of our community.”
