It’s now more than six months since the October 1 shooting. It was the largest mass killing in modern U.S. history.
And along with others, one big question hovers in the aftermath: Will the victims be remembered with a memorial?
Last week, the Clark County Public Art Committee voted to recommend the county spend $258,000 to begin planning a memorial. The recommendation now goes to the Clark County Commission for possible approval in May.
County Commission Chris Giunchigliani said the money is just the start and really it's about what the family wants.
“We need to be very sensitive to what the survivors want to see," she said, "That’s the purpose of the seed money is to show that the county is in for helping in some way, shape, or form with the memorial”
She said the commissioners shouldn't dictate what the memorial should be. Commission chairman Steve Sisolak agreed.
“I would rather let the families do more of the directing and if the arts community wants to be involved that’s great but they should be involved at the direction of the families not the other way around,” he said.
Sisolak said he has been working with the families of the victims. He said some of the families are specifically not talking to him and other leaders because they just want to be left alone to grieve privately.
But those who are communicating have very different ideas about how to memorialize their loved ones. He said some families want something simple like a tree or flagpole with a plaque but others want a building to house artifacts.
“There is a wide divergence in terms of what these folks want in terms of a memorial and in terms of a memorial anniversary celebration.”
Another important question is where would any kind of memorial go. While families liked the healing garden downtown, some felt it was too far from the site of the tragedy.
Others don't want a memorial on the Las Vegas Strip or at the festival grounds. Sisolak is concerned that a memorial at the site of the Welcome to Las Vegas sign could cause an already busy section of road to become even more congested with traffic.
KNPR News reached out to MGM Resorts International for comment about a potential memorial. The company, which owns the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, sent the following statement:
“The tragedy of October First was heartbreaking for the entire Las Vegas community. Our MGM family still mourns for those lost and those still healing physically and mentally.
“We believe the victims and those who acted heroically to save lives should be memorialized and honored, and we look forward to working with those affected, first responders and community leaders, to determine the most appropriate path forward.”
James Young is a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has worked on several memorials, including the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan and the memorial for the teenagers killed at a summer camp in Norway in 2011.
He said the county and families need to work together to come up with a consensus on several questions, including who the memorial is for, where it is going to be, who will be remembered there and what it is going to be.
However, he said there is no way the decisions will be unanimous and officials and family members shouldn't try to come to a unanimous consensus.
Young said that often public memorials are not for the families, but they still need to be part of the decision making.
“I think the private family memorials probably address the families grief more than the big public memorials do. The families certainly need to have a say,” he said.
Young suggests the county create an advisory committee that includes county officials, local and out-of-state experts, survivors and victims' families. He said the committee should take their time and do extensive research on what memorials have worked in the past.
“Everybody needs to take a deep breath but be very deliberative in their work and research and give themselves time,” he said.
Chris Giunchigliani, Clark County Commissioner, District E; Steve Sisolak, Chair of the Clark County Commission and commission representative for District A; James Young, author, "The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss and the Spaces Between"
