Next Meeting of 5/31 Memorial Committee Open to Public Jan. 9

The next meeting of the Council-appointed 5/31 Memorial Committee will take place from 4-6:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9, at the Virginia Beach Economic Development Conference Room, 4525 Main St., Suite #700, Virginia Beach. The meeting is open to the public and will also be available via live streaming on www.VBgov.com and facebook.com/cityofvabeach. The purpose of the meeting is for the two shortlisted design firms to provide introductory presentations and seek feedback from the committee as they prepare to submit conceptual plans to the City by Feb. 24.

In December 2022, the 5/31 Memorial Committee completed Phase I of its process and selected the following two professional design firms to participate in Phase II:

• Dills Architects with SWA
• Rhodeside Harwell, Inc. (RHI) with Kirkland Studio

Team profiles can be found at www.loveforvb.com/memorial/design-firm-finalists.

The design firms will visit Virginia Beach Jan. 9-10 to begin their engagement with the 5/31 Memorial Committee and stakeholders.

At the Jan. 9 meeting, each of the two selected design firms will be given the opportunity to provide an overview of their firms and solicit input from the committee to help guide them through the design process. This is not a meeting to review designs, but rather to allow the design firms to hear directly from stakeholders to inform their design decisions.

This spring, the firms will present conceptual plans, three-dimensional sketches/representations, a written description and other materials to effectively convey their design concepts to the 5/31 Memorial Committee and the community. An opinion of probable construction cost is required for each design concept.

The anticipated timeline of milestones is as follows:

• Firms will be provided the opportunity to visit the recommended site and engage with the 5/31 Memorial Committee members and stakeholders Jan. 9-10.
• Firms will submit proposals by Feb. 24. 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 or April, the 5/31 Memorial Committee will meet to select one of the two firms, and then make a recommendation to City Council.

Committee Background
City Council appointed 13 members to the committee, representing a cross-section of the community, including family members and affected staff members. The City hired consulting firm Kearns & West to facilitate the committee and memorial planning process, serve as a liaison to the families and survivors, and create multiple opportunities for the families, survivors, and community to provide input into the planning process. For more information on the committee, visit LoveForVB.com.

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