City to Assume Responsibility for Completion of AIDS Monument

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Illustration of the AIDS Monument (Daniel Tobin, designer)

The City of West Hollywood has assumed responsibility for completion of the AIDS Monument set to be erected in West Hollywood Park. The City Council unanimously approved the plan at its Monday night meeting.

STORIES: The AIDS Monument, as it is officially named, will be located where the recently demolished auditorium and swimming pool stood in West Hollywood Park.

The Foundation for the AIDS Monument has transferred the $2.43 million it has raised for construction of the monument to the city. Of that money, $1.98 million was in donations while $450,000 was in state and county grants.  

The monument’s final cost is expected to range from $4.4 million to $5 million, with the city covering the remainder of that cost. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2021 and be completed by fall 2022.  

Although the AIDS Monument construction will overlap some with park construction in West Hollywood Park, the two are considered to be separate construction projects with their own timelines.

The city is expected to issue a request for proposals for a design-build team in the coming weeks. That design-build team will then oversee various subcontractors engaged to complete the work.

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The monument is intended to “memorialize the devastation of HIV/AIDS on our nation, honor the courageous activists, caregivers and community leaders through their stories and raise awareness about the history and stigma of having HIV/AIDS,” according to a staff report.

Australian designer Daniel Tobin won a 2014 competition for design of the monument. Tobin’s design is a field of 341 vertical strands on a raised platform between the park and San Vicente Boulevard through which people can walk. Each trace represents 5,000 Americans who have died of AIDS-related causes or who are living with HIV.

Tony Valenzuela served as the executive director of the Foundation for the AIDS Monument, overseeing the capital campaign for two years until it was completed in September 2020. WeHo-based attorney Mark Lehman chaired the board of directors for the foundation.

The largest single donation to the monument came from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which gave $500,000. The next largest was a $275,000 donation from Visit West Hollywood, the city’s marketing and tourism bureau.

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Erin
Erin
3 years ago

They will be giving these funds to me after my federal lawsuit as this is the site the West Hollywood pool staff told parents to attack me for being a transgender then called the West Hollywood Sheriff’s dept. to be their personal bullies and arrested me AT GUNPOINT for being a transgender…this matter is important to me as my father was one of the first people to die of Aids in 1989 when I was 19 years old. West Hollywood has no conscience!!!

Observer
Observer
4 years ago

I guess the Memorial Plaques on SMB were not enough. This monument is monumentally out of control. The price tag is utterly absurd. They should have created a simple, beautiful and cost contained way to acknowledge those who died of AIDS. You should see the way NYC and SF handled such an endeavor. I think the monies should have been given to current AIDS related non-profits which are helping people dealing with HIV/AIDS and retained a modest amount for a modest but compelling memorial.

Last edited 4 years ago by Observer
Jason K
Jason K
4 years ago

I am full support of the monument but I am confused why it is going to cost so much 5 million dollars. That’s 15,000 dollars for each strand.

David
David
4 years ago

Yes, approved to raise city sales tax by 69% all at once, adding $11 million (from $16 million). I don’t think people who voted for the Proposition ever really read it or did the math. Who gets a salary increase of 69%!?!?

Steve Martin
Steve Martin
4 years ago

I appreciate all the hard work that has brought us this far. The monument will insure we don’t forget an important chapter in the history of West Hollywood and help us remember a time when the community came together in love, compassion and sadness. AIDS took a generation of potential leaders and activists from our our community and I believe we would have developed a far different and healthier political culture had we not been so busy fighting for our lives. The City wanted a grand monument but you can’t fault the people who volunteered and worked diligently toward the… Read more »

Scott
Scott
4 years ago

If they raised $2.43M for the project, that’s what they should spend. And they should find someone who can complete this in less than a year.