Design Firm Finalists

Following a national solicitation, the 5/31 Memorial Request for Qualifications process resulted in four qualified submissions. With guidance from the City Attorney’s Office and City Purchasing, the 5/31 Memorial Committee met on November 16 and 17, 2022, to review and score all four proposals.

Using a combination of numerical scoring and consensus process facilitated by Dr. Larry Schooler of Kearns & West, the Committee selected two finalist teams:

During Phase II of the process, the firms traveled to Virginia Beach in January 2023 and met with the Committee and affected City staff, and heard from family members. The firms were required to provide their conceptual plans, three-dimensional sketches/representations, written descriptions, and other materials to effectively convey their design concepts to the 5/31 Memorial Committee and the community. An opinion on the probable construction cost was also required. The firms submitted their plans electronically on Feb. 24 and then made formal presentations to the Committee on March 2 during an open meeting.

Dills Architects with SWA

RHI with Kirkland Studio

Stakeholder input on these two design was gathered in March 2023 via a short survey to provide feedback at SpeakUpVB.com.

The 5/31 Memorial Committee met on March 29 to review the feedback and conduct their final evaluation of the two proposals, using the evaluation criteria set forth in the Request for Qualifications, and voted unanimously to make a recommendation to City Council to enter into negotiations with Dills Architects with SWA for a design contract based on the design concept submitted for the 5/31 Remembrance Memorial.

The Committee made a recommendation to City Council in April 2023 regarding the next steps.