Las Vegas to Inaugurate Armenian Genocide Memorial

An artist’s rendering of the planned memorial to be built in Las Vegas’ Sunset Park

LAS VEGAS (Nevada Public Radio)—Clark County accepted a donated memorial to the Armenian Genocide, which will be built in Sunset Park, in the southeastern part of Las Vegas Valley.

Design, construction and installation costs put the entire project at about $120,000, and all of it will be paid by the Armenian American Society.

County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow said the monument will not open the door to dozens of other privately funded memorials.

“We had probably fifty people representing the Armenian community that came to several of our commission meetings requesting this,” Clark County Commissioner Mary Beth Scow said, “We felt that this did rise to the level of something that would dignify the monument, but we did want to be careful that we are not opening the doors to everything and anything.”

This proposal rose to that level for the commission because it serves as an important reminder of historic events no one wants repeated.

“2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, where a million and a half Armenians were killed during World War I,” said Andy Armenian, a board member of the Armenian American Society of Las Vegas.

Every year on April 24 thousands of Armenian Americans gather to commemorate the horrific crime, which was carried out by leaders of the Ottoman Empire. Besides those who were killed, thousands of people were deported and put into concentration camps.

“The monument will serve as a destination to reflect and place some memorial flowers,” Armenian said.

The Armenian American Society hopes to have the project completed in about a year.