More responses needed for Highland Park’s place of remembrance survey

The City of Highland Park is seeking more responses to a survey about potential locations for a place of remembrance dedicated to those impacted by the 2022 shooting.

The survey focuses on three potential locations: Port Clinton Plaza, the rose garden adjacent to City Hall, and the southwest corner of Central and St. Johns avenues.

During the city’s place of remembrance working group meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Resiliency Manager Maddie Kati shared that the survey has garnered 440 responses since November and that the goal is 640 by Jan. 31, when the survey closes.

The survey features open-ended questions regarding the potential locations, as well as what respondents hope for the site and for what it achieves for the community. It is available in English, Spanish, Russian and Polish, and physical copies of the survey can be picked up at City Hall, 1707 St. Johns Ave.

In responses so far, Kati told the working group, residents that it is “important to me” that the place of remembrance is respectful, meaningful, quiet and beautiful. Respondents also hope that the place of remembrance will bring “healing” to the community.

In addition to the survey, the city is also hosting focus groups on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 for different groups of individuals impacted by the shooting. One-on-one conversations are also offered to anyone present and injured during the shooting, as well as family members of the seven individuals who were killed in the shooting.

Members of the working group also discussed what comes after selecting a location for the project.

According to the meeting notes, the group is leaning toward releasing a request for qualifications to review a designer’s experience and skills, once a location is official.

The working group will next meet on April 15.

In development

As previously reported by The Record, Highland Park began in 2023 a “multi-year process” to develop and install a permanent site in honor of those impacted by the shooting, which in 2022 resulted in more than 50 individuals shot, including seven fatally: Katie Goldstein, Irina McCarthy, Kevin Michael McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Lovi Sundheim, Nicolás Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo.

In the immediate wake of the tragedy, impromptu memorials appeared near downtown Highland Park, and the City of Highland Park then installed a temporary memorial, which officials promised will stand until a permanent place of remembrance is built, in the rose garden near City Hall.

City Manager Ghida Neukirch has said that the objective of the place of remembrance is to pay tribute to the memory of the victims; create a space for reflection, remembrance and solace; and honor Highland Park’s resilience, especially of those who were injured.

The working group guiding the site’s development includes Neukirch, Kati, Mayor Nancy Rotering, Councilmember Anthony Blumberg, Park District of Highland Park Executive Director Brian Romes and Josselyn Community Engagement Manager Gaby Valverde Strobehn.

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