SAN DIEGO, Calif. – As part of their commitment to creating a lasting tribute to the families whose lives have been forever changed by AIDS and HIV, the San Diego AIDS Memorial Task Force will hold a public meeting Aug. 28 to provide a status update on the project and call on members of the public to submit design ideas for a memorial in a new Bankers Hill park.
The task force was created in 2015 with a mission to plan and raise funds for the creation of a permanent AIDS memorial in San Diego. The 19-member volunteer task force, which includes leaders from the HIV/AIDS service providers and LGBT community, is co-chaired by San Diego first lady Katherine Stuart Faulconer and City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez.
More than 8,000 people from across San Diego County have died from AIDS. The memorial is intended to be a place of reflection and meditation as well as raise awareness that there still is not yet a cure.
The task force voted unanimously to focus their efforts on placing a future memorial in Olive Street Park last year following the Truax House sale.
With the support of Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer, the City Council last year unanimously voted to authorize the sale of the Truax House, the first AIDS hospice in San Diego. The sale was approved with the caveats that the historic home would be restored by the buyers and that funds from the sale would be used toward the construction of Olive Street Park, which would become home to San Diego’s first AIDS memorial.
Since then, the City of San Diego has held multiple public meetings about the preliminary designs of Olive Street Park and received input about what amenities the surrounding community would like to see in it. With that information in mind, the task force is now ready to call on the public for memorial design concepts that can be integrated into the park’s architecture.
At the Aug. 28 meeting, the task force will listen to the public ideas as well as outline the process by which people can officially submit their design concepts so they can be voted on next month.
The meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103.
I am not convinced Olive Street neighborhood park is the right place for the memorial.
Would like the opportunity to present to the AIDS Memorial Task Force an explanation of a design for the AIDS Memorial.