Route 91 Festival Memorial
AP Photo/John Locher, File

Permanent Memorial Planned for Route 91 Festival Shooting Site in Las Vegas

A permanent memorial to those killed or injured on Oct. 1, 2017 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival is being planned on the festival grounds.

The Associated Press reported in August that MGM Resorts International, owners of the Las Vegas strip property were the incident occurred, donated two acres of the 15-acre festival site. The plot of land is at the corner of the Las Vegas Village and adjacent to the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic church that became a refuge for victims.

A community center is also being planned for the Route 91 property. Until construction begins on either project, the land will be used as a parking lot for Allegiant Stadium, the brand-new home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.

Fifty-eight people died on Oct. 1, 2017, with over 850 more festival goers injured. The deaths of at least two people later were attributed to gunshot wounds.

A series of surveys will be conducted by Clark County's 1 October Memorial Committee throughout the lengthy planning process, with answers sought from those directly impacted by the festival shooting, such as first responders and family members of victims.

Las Vegas Fox affiliate KVVU reported on March 24 that about 65 percent of the 6,000+ people surveyed said it was "extremely" or "very important" for the memorial to be located on the site of the deadliest mass shooting by an individual gunman in U.S. history.

A second survey, available online through Aug. 15, asks respondents about what fixtures should be incorporated into the memorial.

"Is it important that it include a sculpture? Other creative artwork?" Tennille Pereira, director of the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center, asked earlier this year (as quoted by the Associated Press). "Should it be interactive? Should it allow for mementoes to be left?"

The new memorial will be separate from the Community Healing Garden in downtown Las Vegas, where trees were planted for shooting victims.