The 1 October Memorial Committee (1OMC) has chosen JCJ Architecture’s Forever One Memorial as their recommendation to honor those lost in the October 1 mass shooting. The memorial was chosen from a list of five finalists, including submissions by OLIN and SWA.
The memorial will honor those lost during the October 1, 2017 mass shooting, where a lone gunman opened fire during the last act of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. The shooting took the lives of 58 and left hundreds more injured, making it the deadliest mass shooting in American history to date. Plans for the memorial began with the formation of the 1OMC in 2019 with the singular goal to create a lasting and fitting memorial for those lost in the tragedy, and in turn began a very thorough process with varying levels of public involvement to form a jury and to develop the designs of their five finalists.
“We are grateful to everyone who has participated with us in this process,” said Committee Chairman Tennille Pereira, who also serves as director of the County’s Vegas Strong Resiliency Center, in a press release. “We have deep appreciation for all those involved in expressing their thoughts and ideas about what our memorial should be and to the professional teams that honored our community through the amazing creativity displayed in each of the design concepts presented to us.”
The public has weighed in on the memorial’s creation from the start with a preliminary survey that asked for input and ideas for the memorial design. Each of the shortlisted firms took these comments into account when presenting their concepts. In the most recent evaluations the JCJ Architecture design scored the highest, making it the recommended design by the committee. The project with the second highest score is that of OLIN + Andy Scott entitled Memorial Park, which will be recommended as an alternative by the committee.
JCJ Architecture’s design, Forever One Memorial, is situated to create a continuous experience of remembrance and healing. Following along a weaving walkway, the project is filled with various memorials, seating areas, native plants, and partial enclosures. The path also leads the viewer through the history and events of the tragic day, and by words on the walls that read messages like “We’re so glad you’re here,” and a word cloud describing the victims. Several lighting displays are placed throughout the design, such as a room full of stars beneath a central cone of lit panels. A key focus is an exterior pavilion consisting of 58 glowing pillars, representing each of the victims, with one of their names inscribed on each pillar.
The committee’s recommendation and its alternate will be presented to the Clark County Commission on September 5, and barring approval will begin considering next steps.
