Contact:  Amy Lucas
                Senior Parks Planner
                Amy.Lucas@snoco.org
                425-388-6620

Family Members of SR 530 Slide Victims Announce Permanent Memorial Effort

Fundraising kicks off today with the hope of breaking ground on March 22, 2019

Near Oso, Wash., March 22, 2018 - On behalf of the family members of the forty three victims of the 2014 SR 530 Slide, the Snohomish County Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism today announced plans to construct a permanent memorial for the victims, community, response efforts, and slide event.

The planned memorial will be located on the slide site and is intended to provide a place where families can remember their loved ones and gather together on important days. The memorial is planned to meet the needs of affected family and community members and also provide answers to the visitors who stop at the slide site trying to understand the event. Currently, visitors from around the world come to the site seeking to understand what happened. Family members want visitors not only to find the information they are seeking about the slide but also empathize with the victims as loved individuals. The planned memorial seeks to achieve all of these goals.

In order to support construction of this project, a fundraising effort is being initiated today. Representatives of the media are invited to the Steelhead Drive gate near Oso, WA on Thursday, March 22, 2018, between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. Attendees will hear more about the memorial and meet with family members who can answer questions about the memorial design and fundraising efforts. All funds raised will be used only for the memorial.

Media will be given an opportunity to see the first preliminary designs for the memorial site. To donate, please visit the official, family-endorsed site here.