A Permanent Route 91 Festival Memorial Planned for Shooting Site
Victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting will be honored with a permanent memorial. MGM Resorts has donated two acres of land, and a committee is now fielding community input.
In the meantime, a sign indicating that a memorial is coming will soon go up on a plot of land that’s in the northeast corner of the Las Vegas Village, the site of the Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting at a country music festival. Since then, per the Las Vegas Journal Review, that land has been split into two sections: A south section to be used for parking for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and a north section to house an athletic center and community gathering point.
MGM resorts operates the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the location from which the shooter fired upon crowds that were enjoying a Jason Aldean performance. Fifty-eight people were killed by gunfire, and hundreds more injured. Months following the incident, two more patrons died, bringing the total killed to 60, plus the gunman.
“Having a permanent memorial commemorating the victims and heroes of 1 October is vital to our community’s continued healing, and we are honored to donate a portion of the Village site to help bring that memorial to fruition,” MGM Resorts said in a statement (per All Access).
A group of seven is looking for public input on ideas for the design and eduction tools at the new memorial site. A survey will remain open through Aug. 15, focusing on questions of a possible water feature and if visitors should be allowed to leave mementos in remembrance. The Las Vegas Journal Review shares that anyone directly or indirectly related to the event is encouraged to participate.
See Country Stars Who’ve Suffered Great Tragedy: