As Highland Park moves forward with its plans to build two places of remembrance for the victims of the 2022 July 4 parade shooting, survey data shows a difference of opinion has emerged between city residents and those directly impacted by the tragedy.
During a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, City Council members discussed the results of a survey conducted to help gauge community feelings about the location for such memorials. Results were presented in two categories — community members, and those present and injured during the shooting, and the next of kin of those killed.
About 55% of community members prefer the primary place of remembrance be in a more remote and quiet location. Victims of the shooting were much more strongly favored a central location.
The survey allowed participants to rank their choices. According to the results, a majority of community members surveyed ranked the Rose Garden as their first choice for the primary location for the place of remembrance, then St. Johns and Central, and Port Clinton Plaza as second and third, respectively.
But the victims of the shooting and their families had a somewhat different opinion, with about 46% ranking Port Clinton as their number one choice. There’s some nuance given the ranking system used — a collective 73% ranked the Rose Garden as either their first or second choice.
Councilmember Anthony Blumberg noted the “tension” between the desires of different groups in the community. For those who had experienced the shooting directly, there was a “need to mark the event emotionally” at the “epicenter” of what had happened, hence the lean towards a Port Clinton location.
The survey result packet listed various positives and concerns with each location. While Port Clinton offered proximity and an opportunity to reclaim the space, it also lacked serenity and privacy, and there were concerns of retraumatizing some in the community.
The Rose Garden, while serene and private, was physically disconnected from the event, the survey packet said, and could be viewed as “hiding” what had happened.
St. John and Central is centrally located while not sitting in the heart of the commercial district, but would be “small and cramped.” There were also concerns about a lack of privacy and significance to the shooting.
Despite varying views on location, both residents and victims largely agreed there should be multiple remembrance locations, according to the survey results.
It’s still a long road ahead for the project, city staff said, and what it will entail and look like is still to be determined. Mayor Nancy Rotering previously emphasized the locations would be “places of remembrance” for those killed and the many injured and traumatized during the event.
“It is, in the end, going to be a place for people to reflect and to find solace, hopefully, but also to remember,” Rotering said.
