Sandy Hook memorial planner has advice for Route 91 committee
A week after the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, the chairman of the Connecticut board that planned a permanent memorial there met with the 1 October Memorial Committee in Las Vegas to offer advice on the design selection process.
“I think your work is vitally important for healing,” Daniel Krauss, chairman of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, told the committee during its monthly meeting on Wednesday. “Take your time. Do it right. You have one shot, so work through your disagreements, and try to build that consensus. It’s hard, but it’s achievable.”
On Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 students and six school employees in Newtown, Connecticut, in the second-deadliest school shooting in United States history.
Planning for the Sandy Hook memorial began the following year, when the commission was formed — a process that has stretched for nearly a decade before construction of the memorial began this year, Krauss said.
To get to that point, Krauss said, the commission laid out “very specific” guidelines for design proposals to “narrow down the field a little bit.” Those guidelines helped circumvent incomplete or unrefined design submissions, according to Krauss.
In all, the commission received nearly 200 proposals.
Krauss said the Las Vegas committee probably would see a similar number of applications for its memorial for the victims and survivors of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting, which unfolded on the Strip during the final night of a country music festival.
Fifty-eight people initially were killed and hundreds more injured. Two survivors later died from the injuries they suffered in the shooting and were added to the official death toll.
Each proposal for the Sandy Hook memorial was assigned a unique number at the time of submission to keep the identity of the designer anonymous during the ensuing review and selection process. By doing so, the commission could avoid any potential conflicts of interest or perceived favoritism, according to Krauss.
The commission spent several weeks reviewing each application before narrowing it down to about a dozen designs, which were then shared publicly during community forums and privately with families of the victims, he said.
After gathering community and family input, the commission again narrowed it down to three potential designs, Krauss said. From there, the designers were invited to present their plans to the Newtown Board of Selectmen, the city’s version of a city council.
“We were really keen on engaging with the community,” Krauss said.
After the presentations, the commission stepped away from the project for about a month “to really think about it” before choosing the final design.
“Our process was simple and smooth. It worked for us,” Krauss said. “That’s not to say it would work for every body.”
Krauss’ presentation was followed by a discussion among 1 October Memorial Committee members about how it will roll out its call for potential designs. Discussions were expected to continue during the committee’s next meeting in January.
In closing, Krauss told the committee: “I wish you all peace this holiday season, and I hope for a good 2022. I hope you are successful in what you want to do. I know you will be.”
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Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.