The Vegas Strong Fund is $7 million shy of its $34 million goal to build a memorial on the site where the 2017 Route 91 Harvest festival shooting happened.
The nonprofit organization, founded by community leaders in the aftermath of the massacre, is on track to break ground in the fall and open before the shooting’s 10th anniversary next year, according to a Wednesday news release.
On Oct. 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire from a high-rise suite at Mandalay Bay that overlooked the festival grounds. The Metropolitan Police Department said the shooter barricaded himself in his room and used several high-powered assault weapons to shoot into the festival crowd, killing 60 and injuring hundreds more.
The memorial, located at the corner of Reno Avenue and Giles Street, will serve as a permanent monument honoring the victims, their families, survivors, and emergency responders impacted by the shooting.
A spokesperson for the project said recent contributions included a $5 million pledge from Live Nation Entertainment. The project also received $10 million from Clark County, $5 million from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and another $5 million from MGM Resorts International, which also donated the two-acre memorial site.
“The support we have seen reflects the depth of this community’s commitment to honoring those we lost, those who survived, and the humanitarian response that followed,” said Jan Jones Blackhurst, Chairperson of the Vegas Strong Fund Board of Directors. “Reaching $27 million is a powerful milestone … But we have $7 million left to raise, and we are actively calling on partners who share this vision to help us close that gap and ensure the memorial opens in its full form on October 1, 2027.”
During last year’s 1 October sunrise ceremony, which honors the victims of the shooting, Forever One representatives said that the project would cost about $45 million. In March, the project announced that it had reviewed the earlier budget, seeking cost-saving alternatives, and reduced the total needed to $34 million.
As of June, more than $1 million had also been raised from individual donations and the sale of commemorative pavers, which will be placed at the memorial’s entryway. The Vegas Strong Fund invited community members to also be part of the memorial’s legacy by purchasing one.
Pavers are available in a 4-by-12 format for $500 and an 8-by-12 format for $1,000. Orders placed by April 1, 2027, will be installed ahead of the memorial’s opening on October 1, 2027.
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
