Design updated for the Covid memorial
The Fairfax County Arts Committee Project Team earlier this month submitted an updated design proposal for a Covid memorial at the Fairfax County Government Center.
The Board of Supervisors had passed a resolution on Feb. 8, 2022, calling for the creation of a memorial recognizing the impact of the Covid pandemic and providing an area of respite, reflection, and remembrance.
The “Circles of Memory” memorial would be located at the front of the Herrity Building and the Fairfax County Public Safety Headquarters Building.
Related story: Artists selected for the Covid memorial
An initial proposal for the design was scrapped after “the artist and project team determined that the site infrastructure constraints were too cost prohibitive,” the project team reports.
In May, the objective of the memorial was expanded “to include a more generalized purpose of providing mental health respite and recognition of the toll of all life-threatening events in Fairfax County.”
The new design will contain shading panels attached to concrete benches to promote conversation, interaction, and intimacy relevant to quiet reflection, the project team states. “The whole of the aesthetic impact will be one of artistic beauty in a natural setting.”
As of May 2023, the Fairfax County Health District reported 1, 793 Covid deaths and 4,400 hospitalizations.
12 responses to “Design updated for the Covid memorial”
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What a waste of tax dollars
Maybe we should cancel this since we don’t have any money.
Should this be funded by a inova or pharma?
What is the cost? And this plus their own pay increase just show the hypocrisy of the BoS. This should be funded by INOVA or consortium of pharmacies or pharma companies.
This taxpayer money could be spent on something much more useful for our children and grandchildren and our communities. How many people visit any of the 1918 Spanish Flu memorials? If it is all private donations and just government land use then no objections but otherwise it’s a classic example of mismanagement and spending for special interests in Fairfax government Good grief.
This county has too much money.
I still don’t know anyone who actually died from just Covid.
I knew several people who died from “just COVID.” That, however, is irrelevant to this discussion.
With all the reckless spending of the Board of Spenders (BoS) the cost of this memorial is benign.
It’s a moment in time where we all had to look inward. This memorial art piece is reflective of a most recent global event when the world stood still; and should be remembered as a warning and a reminder as to how we overcame a very real existential threat.
It’s just that 81% of people demonstrably misinterpreted the nature of the threat — yourself included.
How much will this memorial cost? How is it being funded –by taxes on residents or by donations? Why is there no transparency about the cost? Since FC currently has a budget deficit, why would the BoS vote to spend money on anything but essentials?
…”recognition of the toll of all life-threatening events in Fairfax County”
WAT