The Memorial
The Oso Slide Memorial Committee is working with Snohomish County Parks and Recreation to build a permanent Memorial at the site of the March 22, 2014 mudslide. The Memorial will honor those who were lost in the event, the survivors, the responders, and the surrounding communities. The families, survivors and responders participated in a multi-year process with Parks staff to generate ideas and settle on a consensus about approach and general principles.
The current concept was developed through a collaborative process. Parks and the Committee worked with MIG/Portico consultants, who specialize in public memorials to draft the conceptual plan. This plan was brought before the families, responders and community members for feedback and the concept was refined through design from architects, civil engineers, landscape architects, designers, and scientists. The final design, based on those early concepts is now under construction.
The intent of the Memorial is to pay tribute to the lost, the survivors, the response, the communities, healing and resilience of nature. The Memorial holds importance to the families of the lost and the overall community because it is and will be:
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A place of peace and healing for all, whether they knew anyone involved or not.
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A place to show gratitude to local communities and the worldwide response.
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A community gathering space to honor the victims.
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Individual Memorial space to personalize and leave messages and mementos.
The construction funding has been secured but additional funding is still being sought for an endowment that will cover future maintenance and operation of the Memorial in perpetuity.
Parks and the Committee would like to thank Perteet Inc., Reid Middleton, Minaker Architecture, and Northwest Hydraulic Consultants for their generous professional services donations that helped us get to a buildable design.
To learn more about the construction project on the County's webpage, click here