The Vegas Strong Fund held a press conference and remembrance ceremony at the Nevada State Legislature in Carson City Thursday.
The group is trying to fund and build a lasting tribute to those affected by the Route 91 Harvest Festival tragedy called 'Forever One Memorial'.
“I’m one of over 400 people who were shot, and one of more than 850 people injured. But tens of thousands more carry invisible wounds,” said Karessa Royce, former member of the 1 October Memorial Committee and survivor of 1 October. “This memorial is a piece of closure for me—and for so many others. It gives purpose to pain. And it ensures that the stories of what we endured—and how we responded—will never be lost.”
The future two-acre memorial site, donated by MGM Resorts International, is located on the Las Vegas Strip at the former grounds of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival near Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
"The impact of October 1 touched every corner of our state. Nearly 2,500 Nevadans, from every legislative district, were there that night. Victims came from Las Vegas, Reno, Henderson. Survivors who call right here in Carson City home. Elko, Sparks, Tonopah. This was not just a Las Vegas tragedy, it was a Nevada tragedy," says Nevada Assemblyman Steve Yeager, Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly.
Created by Route 91 survivors, the piece incorporates butterflies to honor the 58 lives lost and 22 stakes, each representing 1,000 lives, the total number of 22,000 survivors.
The Forever One Memorial is expected to be completed by 2027, in time for the 10th remembrance of 1 October.
Speakers included Tennille Pereira, former chair of the 1 October Memorial Committee, member of the Vegas Strong Fund Board of Directors, and Directing Attorney of the Resiliency & Justice Center; Steve Yeager, Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly; Nicole Cannizzaro, Majority Leader of the Nevada State Senate; Nevada State Senator John C. Steinbeck, who served as Clark County Fire Chief during 1 October; Sheriff Kevin McMahill, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Mynda Smith, Sister of 1 October victim Neysa Tonks and former member of the 1 October Memorial Committee (Gubernatorial Appointee); Karessa Royce, former member of the 1 October Memorial Committee and survivor of 1 October (Gubernatorial Appointee); and Kelly McMahill, Retired LVMPD Deputy Chief, former member of the 1 October Memorial Committee (Gubernatorial Appointee) and member of the Vegas Strong Fund Board of Directors.
To learn more and donate to the construction of the Forever One Memorial, visit foreveronememorial.org.
