Light can emerge from the darkness. Las Vegas knows this from firsthand experience. It’s demonstrated by our Vegas Strong ethos, our belief that no matter the adversity we face, we as a community can overcome.
On the seventh anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting, Vegas is still going strong. This resilient community awaits the creation of a permanent memorial to honor the 58 lives lost on October 1, 2017. The Vegas Strong Fund, the nonprofit tasked with fundraising and overseeing the completion of the memorial, is working with JCJ Architecture to finalize the design, which was selected in 2023.
Tower of Light
“It really captured everything. And I think in a beautiful way, it memorialized the lives lost. It remembered all of the people who were there that night,” says Jan Jones Blackhurst, chair of the Vegas Strong Fund. “It captured hope that things go up and go to a better place. … And it does it in a very complementary way on the Las Vegas Strip.”
The nonprofit is hosting a campaign launch event at the Clark County Government Center amphitheater on September 30 to introduce board members to the community, unveil a public website and announce fundraising details. As of press time, the total cost of the memorial was unknown, but will be known “in the next couple of months,” Blackhurst says.
Before ground is broken for the memorial, the Vegas Strong Fund must coordinate with the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, which in 2022 bought 13 of the 15 acres of land near Las Vegas Boulevard where the shooting occurred.
“We’ve had conversations with the tribe. We’re going to be meeting with them soon. … There are also some logistical things we need to understand—water lines, energy lines, what they’re looking to do. So of course, we will be working with them,” Blackhurst says.
The Three Affiliated Tribes did not immediately respond to a request for comment on plans for the land and whether it would be in coordination with the memorial.
Derek Sola, design principal of JCJ Architecture, says the memorial—dubbed the Forever One Memorial—will have a “strong and significant” presence on the Strip. The firm conducted informal meetings as well as seven listening sessions for victims’ families, survivors and the community to weigh in on what they wanted the memorial to be.
The Surround
“Through our listening sessions, we heard from many family members that they didn’t want the memorial to be lost on the Strip,” Sola says. “How do you do that when you’re surrounded by so many large-scale integrated resorts? We felt that illumination plays into that.”
The 2-acre memorial, located at the corner of East Reno Avenue and Giles Street, will essentially be a pathway in the shape of an infinity symbol—a striking imprint on the grounds where the shooting took place. It will be visible to those flying into Las Vegas, and is meant to represent “eternal love and infinite memory.”
“There are over 18 million people flying into Harry Reid International Airport, and when they’re flying in, one of the things we want them to see is the shape of the infinity symbol,” Sola says. “During the day, they’ll be able to see the imprint. But at night, it will take illumination of that symbol to make it more noticeable and become that imprint in your mind that you see before you ever touch down in Las Vegas.”
Light features in many other ways throughout the memorial. Its pathway will contain different elements and experiences, including a piece called 58 Candles at the heart of the memorial, as well as a 58-foot-tall Tower of Light.
But it’s not all light and illumination. The memorial’s pathway will provide moments of shade and shadow, ideal spots for reflection and healing. Rammed earth walls will minimize the sightline to the Mandalay Bay hotel tower, from which the Route 91 shooter fired into the crowd. Soil from the site of the massacre will be used in the walls, symbolizing a sense of permanence and connection with the site.
Forever One Memorial model
A community plaza is meant to serve as a place to gather for ceremonies, memorial services or even intimate concert events. Arcing pathways under the shade of trees represent different groups—musical artists, concertgoers, emergency responders—who were profoundly impacted by the shooting.
And while the number 58 is significant throughout the memorial, as that is the number of people who died on the night of the shooting, there were two additional victims, Kimberly Gervais and Samanta Arjune, who died of their injuries years after the shooting. Blackhurst says she’s unsure whether they will be acknowledged in the memorial, but the Vegas Strong Fund is considering it.
“We will look at that and consider that. We want everyone to be remembered,” she says.
Ultimately, the goal is to remind visitors of the outpouring of courage, selflessness and love that followed the Route 91 shooting, Sola says.
“We hope that memorial design meets the expectations and needs for those that have lost loved ones and can honor the angels in a permanent, meaningful and sacred place. It’s really meant to show the greater side of humanity that occurred in really a kind of a dark time of our history here, and showcase the random acts of kindness that came out of total strangers that were helping strangers that night.”
Blackhurst says the Vegas Strong Fund hopes for the memorial to have a ribbon cutting in 2027, on the 10th anniversary of the Route 91 shooting.
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