City of West Hollywood

BACKGROUND 

STORIES: The AIDS Monument is a collaborative project between the City of West Hollywood and the Foundation for the AIDS Monument (FAM) to memorialize the devastation of HIV/AIDS, honor courageous activists, caregivers, and community leaders through their STORIES, and raise awareness about the history and stigma of living with HIV/ AIDS. The Monument will be located prominently in West Hollywood Park along San Vicente Boulevard and will function as an iconic public art experience and memorial site.

Designed by the artist Daniel Tobin, the AIDS Monument will include a plaza with a donor and naming wall, a field of vertical bronze “traces” with etched narrative text, integrated lighting that is visually evocative of a candlelight vigil, and a podium along N. San Vicente Boulevard.

"Trace: A visible mark made or left by the passage of a person; evidence or indication of former presence or existence; to locate or discover by searching or researching evidence; a vestige."

Reflective and contemporary, the Monument will establish a much needed, long-awaited physical structure of global significance that will support West Hollywood’s ongoing activism. The Monument will provide a destination that will pay tribute to the legacy of those we’ve lost, honor those who survived, and the organizations of change that were born.

The AIDS Monument:
REMEMBERS those we lost, those who survived, the protests and vigils, the caregivers.
CELEBRATES those who step up when others step away.
EDUCATES future generations through lessons learned.

PROJECT HISTORY AND TIMELINE

Initial Concept Design

• 2012-2014- Public Hearings, where City Council approved the incorporation of the AIDS Monument into the West Hollywood Park Phase II Plan. First Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Foundation for the AIDS Monument (FAM), and the selection of the Artist Daniel Tobin. Staff report link.
• 2015-2019- Revised MOU with FAM, community engagement and conceptual design by Daniel Tobin. Staff report link.
• 2019- 2020- Public Hearings, where City Council approved of the integration of community engagement feedback into the design and accepted $2.43 million from FAM in donations and grant funding for the construction of the Monument. Staff report link.

Initial Design- Build Bid

• 2020-2022- Concept design refinement, Design-Build Request for Qualifications (RFQ)/ Request for Proposals (RFP) process.
• February 21, 2023- Public Hearing, where City Council approved staff’s recommendation to reject the single Design-Build Bid of $14.1 million, approved an updated agreement w/ LPA, Inc. for design services to complete construction documents and use a traditional Design-Bid-Build procurement method for the project. Staff report link.

Design Revisions and Cost Reductions

• April 20, 2023- Public Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee to discuss methods for cost reduction.
• April 2023- October 2023 - Design and value engineering by LPA, Inc. and artist Daniel Tobin, and the production of a revised set of construction documents and specifications.
• January 25, 2024- Public Meeting of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission (ACAC), who approved the Stage III Final Art Plan.

Revised Design-Bid-Build Bid

• October 2023 - April 2024- Bidding: Public RFP to pre-select a fabricator for the traces, and public bidding for a general contractor to complete the project.
• April 24, 2024- Public Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee to discuss bids received and the potential award of a construction contract.
• May 06, 2024- Public Hearing, where City Council approved the award of a Construction Contract to PCL, Inc. in the amount of $6,675,000 (a reduction of approximately $7 million compared to the previous bid, and more closely aligned with original budget targets, adjusted for inflation.) Staff report link.

Construction

• August 2024- Construction commencement. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2025.

PROJECT UPDATES

For updates on the status of construction, please visit engage.weho.org/aidsmonument.

Conceptual Renderings by LPA, Inc. and Daniel Tobin

Questions and More Information

For any questions or additional information, please contact Michael Barker, the City of West Hollywood Project Architect in the City’s Urban Design and Architecture Studio, at mbarker@weho.org. 

For more information about the Foundation for the AIDS Monument (FAM) and to listen to the STORIES of the courageous activists, caregivers, and community leaders that inspired the AIDS Monument, please visit aidsmonument.org.