West Hollywood celebrates AIDS history
West Hollywood will soon break ground on an AIDS memorial in West Hollywood Park.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The city of West Hollywood will soon begin construction on a massive memorial to commemorate the victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
STORY: The AIDS memorial will be erected in West Hollywood Park, adjacent to San Vicente Boulevard and the West Hollywood Library.
“The HIV/AIDS crisis is deeply intertwined with our city,” said West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson. “As a home for the LGBTQ community, we recognize that honoring our history in such a beautiful way is an incredible step our city can take.”
The project has been in the works for more than 10 years and will cost the city approximately $6.6 million. On Tuesday, the city held a pre-construction meeting where stakeholders showed renderings of the memorial, which will feature a donor wall and vertical bronze trails, memorialize the toll of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and honor activists through light and art.
“The design has changed slightly over the years, but it’s essentially 147 vertical bronze, long, pole-like elements that we’re calling Traces, which will line the grounds of the memorial,” project designer Michael Baker said. “The idea is to evoke a sense of how the HIV and AIDS epidemic affected people at the time.”
The $6.6 million cost is being funded in part through donations, and the city hopes to complete the project in about a year.
