TMC gives Tucson's Jan. 8 memorial a $500,000 boost

The Tucson Medical Center donated $500,000 to help build Tucson's Jan. 8 memorial.

The memorial in El Presidio Park in downtown Tucson will be dedicated to the six people killed and 13 wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011 mass shooting at a shopping center on the northwest side. 

“It is our honor, on behalf of our staff and all of the people we serve, to be in a position to help support the creation of this important space to commemorate this shared community experience that touched – and changed – so many lives,” Judy Rich, president and CEO of TMC, said in a news release Friday.

Tucson's January 8th Memorial Foundation is working to raise $4 million to create "The Embrace," an interactive metal sculpture with flowing water and gardens that will be placed near the historic county courthouse. 

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The foundation held a design competition and hired Chee Salette Architecture Office to create the memorial, foundation president Dot Kret said in an interview. The donation from TMC, which is the "first major gift" of the fundraising campaign, will help the foundation work out the final details of the construction plan. 

“This memorial will serve as an everyday gathering spot, and a place that we will celebrate our history and our heritage," Rich said in the news release.

"And importantly, it will serve as a symbol of the better selves we were when we came together – often with people we didn’t know - to mourn, to work toward more civil discourse and to embrace the hope and promise of the future,” she said.