Highland Park Shooting Memorial Committee Seeks More Public Feedback On Possible Locations

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — City officials are asking for public input as part of the process to create a permanent memorial to honor the victims and survivors of the July 4, 2022, Highland Park shooting.

Members of the city's Place of Remembrance Working Group on Tuesday reviewed the progress of public engagement efforts and discussed potential locations for the memorial, according to notes from the meeting.

City staff are still looking for more responses to an online survey to inform the working group's memorial location recommendation to the City Council.

As of Jan. 8, 440 responses had been received, with a goal of 640 responses set by DoTank, the city's consultant on the project, according to Resiliency Division Manager Madeline Kati.

The survey remains open until Jan. 31 and is available in English, Spanish, Russian and Polish, with paper copies available at City Hall, the Highland Park Public Library and Senior Center.

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Respondents are asked to rank three proposed sites: Port Clinton Plaza, the southwest corner of St. Johns and Central avenues and the rose garden near City Hall, which is currently the site of a temporary memorial.

The survey also asks for feedback on features like accessibility, security and whether the site should include quiet spaces for remembrance or accommodate multimedia elements.

Preliminary feedback indicates community members want the memorial to be "respectful, meaningful, quiet and beautiful." And when asked what they hoped the site would achieve, the most common survey responses were "remembrance and healing," according to the notes.

Formed in September 2023, the Working Group is made up of Kati, City Manager Ghida Neukirch, Mayor Nancy Rotering, Councilmember Anthony Blumberg, Park District of Highland Park Executive Director Brian Romes and Josselyn Community Engagement Manager Gaby Valverde Strobehn.

At this week's meeting, Mayor Nancy Rotering discussed her experience visiting other memorials through the Strong Cities network, emphasizing the importance of simplicity in design to reflect both pain and resilience.

Rotering also mentioned the possibility of building a playground near a rose garden memorial on two empty lots to the east of the library, with the sound of children playing nearby to symbolize life continuing.

At least one of the victim's families has expressed a desire to have some kind of place of remembrance at Port Clinton, and meeting attendees discussed the possibility of having memorials at both the rose garden and the downtown plaza.

The temporary memorial at the rose garden, which is set to remain in place until a permanent memorial is completed, includes seven plaques for each of the slain paradegoers — Katie Goldstein, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Sundheim, Nicholas Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo.

After determining a location, city officials plan to issue a request for qualifications to identify a designer.

This week, city staff convened a pair of virtual focus groups open to anyone who was present at the shooting, and two in-person groups are planned for next week.

Tuesday's focus group is open to anyone who was injured, their families and the families of the seven people killed, while Wednesday's is open to anyone who was present.

The working group, which is next scheduled to meet in April, tentatively aims to make its recommendation to the City Council in May.

"Once the Council decides upon a location," according to city staff, "there will be additional opportunities for individuals to provide feedback on questions pertaining to the design of the space."

Earlier:

• Next Steps In Highland Park Memorial Plans: Consultants, Fundraising
• Highland Park Shooting Memorial Locations Considered By Committee
• Highland Park City Council To Discuss Memorial, Remembrance Committee