Fundraising Continues as Memorial Enters Engineering and Fabrication Stage
The Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Task Force conducted a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony today at the future home of the Memorial in the Palm Springs Downtown Park. Held on World AIDS Day, the ceremony featured brief remarks about the importance of this project and how the future site will be a community space dedicated to remembrance, reflection, and healing. More than 200 community members including Palm Springs Chief of Police Andy Mills, former City Councilmember Lisa Middleton, heard from Dan Spencer, Task Force Founder and Spokesperson, Phillip K. Smith III, the Memorial’s designer, and Jeffrey Bernstein, Palm Springs City Councilmember. After the remarks, the Task Force members ceremoniously broke the ground where the Memorial will be installed.
At the event, participants were able to observe a scale model of the Memorial, placed near the location where the actual Memorial will be installed. Construction on the much-anticipated Memorial is expected to commence in January.
“The Palm Springs AIDS Memorial will give residents and visitors a place to gather, share stories, and reflect on the impact of HIV/AIDS,” said Dan Spencer, Task Force spokesperson. “This important Memorial will be a space for all to remember and celebrate those we’ve lost while also acknowledging the support of long-term survivors, family members, and caregivers. I am thrilled that after many years or planning and fundraising, we have now broken ground on the Memorial’s site. While the fabrication and construction coordination work on the Memorial continues, we are continuing to raise $275,000 to complete the project.”
During his remarks, Spencer noted, “Just a few days ago, our government declared there is no World AIDS day. They are attempting to erase history and erase the people we have loved and lost and dim the support of those we continue to love. Having experienced the 1980s when the President waited four years to acknowledge AIDS, we know that SILENCE = DEATH. We cannot let this happen in our loving, supportive and inclusive community.”
The Memorial has recently shifted from vision to reality. The Memorial’s selected general contractor, Tom Rice Construction, has already met with the city on-site at the Downtown Park for future construction coordination. The project has completed its preliminary engineering review by the City of Palm Springs, with drawing and design support for civil engineering from MSA Consulting, structural engineering from Rbhu Engineering, and overall project oversight and coordination by Kizy Art Production working closely with the artist. Renderings of the Memorial and a comprehensive description of the physical structure and the accompanying virtual site may be found at https://presentation.psaidsmemorial.org/.
Large chunks of marble for the Memorial’s three vertical ovals have been identified by the quarry in Sardinia, Italy and will soon be delivered to the Task Force’s stone fabrication team, Garfagnana Innovazione. The aluminum fabricator, Active Alloys, has created several successful and beautiful mock-ups that align with the core reflective intentions for the Memorial experience.
About the Memorial
The Palm Springs AIDS Memorial is a gift to the City by the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Task Force and commemorates the many lives lost to AIDS while honoring the caregivers and survivors in the community. The idea of the Memorial was designed pro bono by award-winning artist Phillip K. Smith III. Called “Well of Love,” the Memorial shares three simple messages: Forever Remembered, Forever Loved, and Forever Celebrated. It will be a gathering place for love, in much the same way that Palm Springs was a gathering place for those with HIV/AIDS early in the pandemic. It will serve as a lasting tribute to the past while inspiring a future rooted in compassion and unity. The Task Force is in the final phase of fundraising and welcomes donations at all levels of support for this important project. Donations may be made at https://psaidsmemorial.org/communityleadership-donor-tiers/. To note, the Task Force has partnered with DAP Health to act solely as the fiscal processing agent for 501(c)(3) donations to the Memorial.
