5/31 Memorial Planning Committee Meeting Open to Public Feb. 23-24

​The first meeting of the Council-appointed 5/31 Memorial Committee will take place Wednesday, Feb. 23 and Thursday, Feb. 24 from 4 - 9 p.m. at The HIVE, 4636 Columbus Street, Suite 100 in Virginia Beach. The meeting is open to the public.

Committee Background

City Council appointed 12 members to the committee including the families and survivor liaisons, during their formal session on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. The City has hired consulting firm Kearns & West to facilitate the memorial planning process. Kearns & West serves as the family and survivor liaisons, facilitates the Memorial Committee, and creates multiple opportunities for the families, survivors, and community to provide input in the memorial planning process.

The goals of the 5/31 Memorial Committee include:

• creating firm protocols for meeting structure and consensus-building
• creating a vision for the memorial
• setting project priorities goals, and building consensus on the design
• leading a transparent process open to any interested members of the public or stakeholders
• advocating for the families, survivors and community
• soliciting input from the stakeholders and public
• developing design goals and recommendations on the memorial site, and funding for the memorial using collected input
• determining a preferred location for the memorial
• providing project budgets and mobilizing funding
• soliciting design proposals
• reviewing proposals, conducting selection process, and making a final recommendation to City Council
• overseeing the installation and dedication of memorial