Tragedy hit the City of Virginia Beach in 2019 with a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center.
The May 31st Memorial Committee, which was tasked with planning a memorial for the 2019 mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, recommended a site for a permanent memorial to the Virginia Beach City Council earlier this year. The committee has completed Phase 1 and selected two professional design firms to participate in Phase II, the city says.
The memorial would honor the 12 people killed and four people injured in the May 31, 2019 shooting.
Using a combination of numerical scoring and consensus process facilitated by Dr. Larry Schooler of Kearns & West, the committee selected two finalist teams:
- Dills Architects with SWA
- Rhodeside Harwell, Inc. (RHI) with Kirkland Studio
Team profiles can be found here.
During Phase II of the process, the firms will have the opportunity to engage with stakeholders and will present conceptual plans, three-dimensional sketches/representations, written description and other materials to effectively convey their design concepts.
According to city officials the anticipated timeline of milestones is as follows:
- Firms will provide stakeholder engagement plans in December 2022.
- Firms will be provided the opportunity to visit sites and engage with the 5/31 Memorial Committee members and/or stakeholders in January 2023.
- Firms will submit proposals in mid-February. In late February, firms present proposals for committee and public review. The 5/31 Memorial Committee expects to interview representatives from both firms.
- The 5/31 Memorial Committee will solicit stakeholder feedback on designs throughout March.
- In late March-early April, the 5/31 Memorial Committee will meet to select one of the two firms, and then will make a recommendation to City Council.
