VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The first meeting of the committee appointed to develop a plan and vision for a memorial for the May 31, 2019 mass shooting in Virginia Beach will be open to the public.

The first meeting of the 12-member 5/31 Memorial Committee will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 23 and 24 from 4-9 p.m. at The HIVE, 4636 Columbus Street, Suite 100 in Virginia Beach.

The committee members were appointed by City Council during a meeting Dec. 14 and includes the families and survivor liaisons.

The city has hired Kearns & West for $115,000 to help with the memorial planning process. The national firm “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 city said in a news release.

On May 31, 2019, a city engineer shot and killed 12 people and injured four others before he was killed by police at Building 2 of the Municipal Center. Almost all those who died were city employees.

According to the city, 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

The committee meeting on Thursday and Friday will also be available to watch online at VBgov.com and Facebook.com/CityofVaBeach.