Fairfax County plans Covid memorial

Plans are moving forward for a Fairfax County memorial for those who lost their lives in the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the urging of Board Chair Jeffrey McKay, the Board of Supervisors directed the Facilities Management Department, Park Authority, and other relevant agencies to begin working on a cost estimate, timeline, and design options for a Covid memorial.

“At this point, it’s very likely to be in a Fairfax County Park Authority property, at one of our park facilities,” McKay told WTOP. “That’s important to me because the whole point of this is to be a place for personal reflection.”

So far, 1,517 people died from Covid in the Fairfax Health District. Many more people lost loved ones, lost their businesses or jobs, or suffered trauma.

“You don’t lose the number of lives that we did and have the type of literal impact on as many people as we have had over as long a period of time and not hope to have future generations understand how devastating this was and how we managed to get through it,” McKay said in the WTOP story.

A memorandum to the board from Park Authority Executive Director Jai Cole says the memorial would be completed over a period of 12 to 15 months, beginning this month.

The project timeline includes planning, design, permitting, site work, outreach, and public engagement. A cost estimate and funding options would be presented to the board in September. Construction would be completed in summer 2023.

“During the early stages of the project, particular attention will be given to understanding and capturing the range of experiences and impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through the voices of those in our community,” Cole states. “This is anticipated to include consultation with groups in the arts community such as the Arts Council.”

According to Cole, “A Covid-19 memorial could serve to remember the loved ones we have lost; honor the bravery of those who saved lives and the tenacity of frontline workers who kept our county functioning; celebrate the brilliance of those who created vaccines and medicines; and commemorate the acts of kindness and the daily sacrifice of the many that stayed at home while governments and institutions reacted urgently to find solutions.”

While other localities are also considering a Covid memorial, they are mostly waiting until the pandemic is widely accepted as over. “As such, Fairfax County will be among the first localities to establish a Covid-19 memorial,” the memorandum says.