2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Site to Become Community Center
The site of the mass shooting at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev., will become a community center. MGM Resorts, which owns the now-closed festival grounds, announced the plans on Tuesday (Sept. 3), Billboard reports.
The community and athletic center will sit on the north end of the site, known as the Las Vegas Village, which is bordered by W. Reno Avenue, Giles Street, Mandalay Bay Road and S. Las Vegas Boulevard. Additionally, the land will be used for parking for Allegiant Stadium, which is currently under construction but will be the home of the NFL's Oakland Raiders when the team moves to Las Vegas in Summer 2020. The site will also include a memorial to the shooting's 58 victims.
“We know that for many, the Village property will forever be linked to the tragic loss of life that took place there on Oct. 1. We will never forget the victims, and all of those impacted by that evening," MGM Resorts says in a statement (quote via the Las Vegas Review-Journal). "As the second anniversary nears, we remain committed to being part of the community effort to continue healing and moving forward ... It was important to us that the long-term use of the property include the community in some way."
The Las Vegas Village grounds are kitty-corner to the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, also owned by MGM Resorts. It was from a Mandalay Bay hotel room that a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1, the final night of the event. Headliner Jason Aldean was onstage when the shooting began.
Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 800 more were injured in the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting. The event remains the deadliest non-war mass shooting in U.S. history. In August of 2018, the FBI closed its investigation into the tragedy without uncovering a motive. Numerous lawsuits have been filed in relation to the event.
Remembering the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims