The memorial to Las Vegas mass shooting victims is expected to be completed by the 10th anniversary

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Officials in Las Vegas vowed closure Monday a permanent monument to victims and survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history on the 10th anniversary of the 2017 attack.

The announcement came a day before the seventh anniversary of the shooting that initially left 58 people dead and hundreds more injured when a gunman opened fire on a crowded country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Two more people died from their gunshot wounds in the following years.

Jan Jones-Blackhurst, chairman of the Vegas Strong Fund, the nonprofit responsible for fundraising and construction of the memorial, said at a news conference that the group hopes to break ground at the site of the attack within six months .

A final design for the monument, the will feature 58 candlestick-like barswas approved last September after three years of planning were stalled by the pandemic. The creators envision a park in the shape of an infinity symbol in the northeast corner of the former concert hall, with 22,000 lights representing the number of people who attended the show that evening.

A circular path leads visitors through a garden, past an 18-meter-high glass tower and to a “memory ring” with 58 candles. Each ray shows a victim's name and photo.

“To our victims, families and survivors, we know that you long for a place to lie down, grieve, pay respects to those who have died and come together in community and remember the beautiful moments of time together “We have enjoyed music together on the fateful night before the shooting began,” said Brian Rogers, a paramedic who responded to the shooting and now sits on the board of the Vegas Strong Fund.

An alternative design that was approved would include 15 horse statues representing the home states and countries of the people killed, as well as two smaller horses for the dozens of children who lost their parents in the shooting.

Construction is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, officials said. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, donated $1 million.

The permanent memorial will be separate from a Community healing garden Built by more than 1,000 volunteers in downtown Las Vegas in the days after the shooting.