5 finalists named for 1 October memorial

The 1 October Memorial Committee on Wednesday named five teams who will present their ideas for a final memorial, including two Las Vegas architectural firms.

Twenty-one teams, each with at least one Nevada architecture license, submitted applications. They were graded by a seven-person jury, and then the committee chose the top five scores.

Aaron Neubert Architects, JCJ Architecture, Olin, Paul Murdoch Architects and SWA were chosen, and listed as finalists in alphabetical order.

Their scores from the jury ranged from 91.94 to 78.29 out of 100. Each team’s specific scores were not revealed.

Every team will have a $50,000 budget to create renderings, and they will introduce themselves to the committee on Jan. 25 at the Clark County Government Center.

The memorial will honor the hundreds of people who were injured and the 60 people who died after a shooting on the last night of the Route 91 Harvest music festival, on Oct. 1, 2017, on the Strip.

The local teams, Neubert and JCJ, have offices in Summerlin and southwest Las Vegas, respectively.

Neubert was founded in 2006 and focuses on landscape and light, according to its website. The firm creates houses, hotels and restaurants. In a message to the Review-Journal, Darrell Neubert, the firm’s marketing director, said the company was grateful for the opportunity to present its ideas.

“We are honored to have the opportunity — and take on the responsibility — to propose a memorial that honors the victims, while also creating a space for their families, the local community, and visitors to reflect and heal in the aftermath of this tragic event,” the statement read.

JCJ, owned by its 120 employees, was founded in 1936 and has more than 50 architects on staff, according to the firm’s website. Principal Project Director Mike Larson said Wednesday that when beginning the design, the firm first asked employees about their memories of the shooting.

“That day was a day where something very, very personal happened to our community and as a local it’s meaningful in a way that hits home,” Larson said. “We want to approach it as something that’s very intimate to us as locals but also want to address those who were guests that night.”

3 Los Angeles firms

SWA’s website said the firm creates urban parks, university campuses, commercial complexes and resorts. Natalia Beard, principal architect in charge of SWA’s memorial design, said that the firm was humbled to be chosen and the real work starts now.

“We don’t come with preconceptions,” Beard said. “We are ready to listen to everyone and help bring our talent to tell the stories through design. We definitely understand the gravity of this memorial and the kind of impact it can have on the healing of the community.”

Olin’s featured work included several green spaces and waterfront projects in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Murdoch created the Flight 93 Memorial, on which the committee heard a presentation earlier this year. The firm also created the World War One Memorial in Washington D.C. and several building at the University of California, Los Angeles campus.

The committee cheered after the 47-minute meeting, and chairperson Tennille Pereira said that the three-and-a-half years of monthly meetings had finally reached phase two of the memorial process.

“The biggest obstacle was really putting together the process that would work for the impacted communities so that we could hear their voice,” she said.

Committee member Mynda Smith said she hoped the process would make survivors and stakeholders feel included. Smith’s sister, Neysa Tonks, died in the aftermath of the shooting.

“The process from here to the end is going to be a really beautiful process that will be able to have survivors be a part of it,” Smith said Wednesday. “It’s a day that’s hard to look back on; for me, it’s just moving forward. It’s always been about finding light, hope and healing. Now, we’re gong to get closer to honoring the 58, honor those who were there and honor those who have passed since then.”

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.