Sandy_Hook_Memorial
Sandy Hook Memorial
Memorial in Connecticut for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims
The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial is a memorial in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, that honors the twenty children and six educators who were victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on the morning of December 14, 2012. The memorial is located at 28 Riverside Road in the woods adjacent to the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, built near the site of the original school that was razed.[1]
Planning for a memorial began in 2013 when Newtown's board of selectmen appointed the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission.[2] The five-acre site, donated by the Boys Social and Athletic Club of Sandy Hook, was chosen from among 17 potential properties after commission members heard children playing on the nearby school's playground during a site walk.[3] The winning design, created by architects Dan Affleck and Ben Waldo of SWA Group, was selected from a pool of 189 submissions.[4]
$3.7 million to construct the memorial was narrowly approved by Newtown voters in April 2021, and site work began in August 2021.[2] Construction was completed in August 2022. The memorial opened to the public on November 13, 2022, after a private ceremony with the victims' families.[3]