The timeline to start work on a 5/14 Living Memorial and Healing Center on Jefferson Avenue has moved forward significantly, now that full funding is in place.
The New York State Assembly was expected to award $1 million toward the healing center, but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has announced the award will be $12 million instead. It closes the funding gap needed for construction, which means the planned start date in spring will be reassessed.
Hate can bring people to dark places, but he expects the memorial center to be a light that helps educate and bring people together, Heastie said.
“People always want to thank me. I tell people, ‘Thank me when I write a personal check. I (am not) at that place that I can write a personal check,” he said. “But it's your money, and I think the best way to, how could you find a better way to spend state money (than) on memorializing what happened here on May 14th?”
The center will be located at the Apollo Media Center. There will be a memorial outside with 10 arches representing victims and a pillar for survivors. There also will be a 5/14 memorial museum inside the media center.
It will be a place for learning and remembrance for everyone, not just those directly impacted by the 5/14 Tops mass shooting, said Chad Houston Executive Director of the 5/14 Memorial Foundation.
“After this tragedy, we all came together as a city to help hold each other up,” he said. “We all came together to support each other, and that's what we want to put on display, and that's what we want people to feel when they come into the center: is that spirit of support, that spirit of togetherness.”
