SALINAS >> In honor of the 940 Monterey County residents who died during COVID-19, the county has broken ground on a permanent memorial installation.

The memorial will be built at the County Government Center campus in Salinas and is expected to be completed in early August. The tribute has been in the works for three years, funded by donations that have been managed by the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

“Each life lost to COVID-19 mattered and leaves a hole in the hearts of loved ones, family members, friends and surrounding community,” said Supervisor Luis Alejo in a news release.

The installation will be made of colored glass panels provided by Shelby Hawthorne Glass and will be located along the pedestrian plaza across from the Crime Victims Memorial. The memorial will serve as “a reminder of lives lost and a way to honor those that helped our county through the pandemic — our local health care workers, public servants and the community,” said the news release.

The memorial will feature five transparent colored panels to represent the five districts in the county. The colored glass will have varied tones of the same color, “signifying our county’s diversity.” The space will also include solar lighting, landscaping and a bench. The budget for the project is $340,000.

The project costs include the design, community engagement and construction. Funds that remain at the end of the process will be held in a fund managed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and meant solely for ongoing maintenance.

Major donors to the project include Taylor Fresh Foods, Inc., Monterey County Office of Education, Natividad Medical Foundation, Salinas Rotary Club, Salinas Valley Health Foundation and more.In March 2023, Salinas Valley Health took part in the Rose River Memorial, a nationwide art project to recognize the impact of COVID-19 on communities. The memorial highlighted a wall of over 2,500 handmade red felt roses created by community members and adhered to nets donated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Last October, a smaller version of the temporary installation was moved inside the hospital’s main visitor lobby.

“As someone who cared for patients and families during the height of COVID-19, I’ve seen firsthand how grief was often complicated by isolation,” said Dr. Nadine Semer, a palliative care physician at Salinas Valley Health who spearheaded the art installation. “We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support for the Rose River Memorial project and this new memorial will create a permanent space where our community can recognize the impact the pandemic had on us and continue to heal.”

Announcement boards are currently situated in the space where the memorial will be built, between the County Administration Building and the North Wing Courthouse, and will be relocated.

The panels that make up the installation will be able to be engraved with names, text and images. Solar lighting, drip irrigation, drought tolerant plant material and recycled materials will also be used where they fit in.

More information about the memorial can be found at https://cfmco.org/news/cfmco_fund_list/montereycountycovidmemorial/.