The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission (SHPMC) and its professional Advisory Panel met on January 10 in the Newtown High School Lecture Hall to begin Phase 1-A of its design evaluation process.The next SHPMC meeting, to continue Phase1-A of the design evaluation process, will be on Thursday, January 11, at 7:30 pm, at the Newtown High School Lecture Hall.For more information on the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, visit sandyhookpermanentmemorial.com or e-mail the commission at sandyhookpermanentmemorial@gmail.com.

Phase 1-A will include going over all 188 designs that the commission has received for the Sandy Hook permanent memorial on Riverside Road. All submissions in this stage keep the designers' names and background anonymous, with only an identification code shared.

Each member of the commission and panel were able to digitally review the design files prior to the meeting to compile notes. They also received a large binder, the first of four volumes, at the start of the meeting that included information on the initial 30 designs submitted that they would assess that evening.

One by one, SHPMC Chair Kyle Lyddy showed the digital designs on the projector for the group to see and encouraged the members to contribute to the conversation of what they liked and what they did not.

"I don't want us to be shy if something stuck out… I want us to talk about them," Mr Lyddy encouraged.

That open dialogue allowed members to talk about elements that resonated with them and could potentially be incorporated in the final design.

Some standout points that members saw throughout various designs that they had levels of agreement on were: accessibility for navigating the property; having a welcoming entrance to the site; having some sort of kiosk or shelter, since the space will be accessible all four seasons; the inclusion of the sacred soil in a meaningful way, but not as the central focus of the memorial; screening between the memorial property and neighboring commercial and residential properties; a well thought-out ecology plan of how nature would be affected by and included with the design; having a central location and/or feature for the memorial that would be purposeful; and having a distinct place where the victims' names would be appropriately positioned, instead of scattered around the property.

Despite the many positive aspects that the SHPMC saw, of the 30 designs that were evaluated during the meeting, only one received unanimous approval from the commission (advisory panel members do not get a vote) to keep it in the running.

The design ID that was approved to revisit at a later point was referred to as SH37 during the meeting and sparked positive responses the moment its images were projected on the screen for everyone to view.

SHPMC member JoAnn Bacon, who is the mother of first grader Charlotte Bacon who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14, was one of the first to start the conversation and said, "Visually I like this one a lot."

The design plan showed images of a "Sacred Sycamore Tree" (that got its name from the intention of incorporating the sacred soil beneath it) and a manufactured pool with names of the victims carved in stone surrounding it.

SHPMC member Sarah Middeleer raised concerns over how expensive a project like that design could be, for example having to regrade nearly the entire site to accomplish the design, which led to a conversation about the ability to modify elements and materials.

After much discussion, Advisory Panel member Shavaun Towers, who is the co-founder of a nationally known landscape and architecture firm in New Haven, said that she thinks if they keep the essence of the design and work with it, that it would be possible to achieve the design.

However, throughout the night not all designs seen were so favorable among the SHPMC and Advisory Panel members

Many designs were eliminated unanimously, for a variety of reasons. Some of the most glaring issues that caused a design to be removed was when designers did not follow the guidelines; they did not incorporate honoring the victims; the land was not realistically utilized; designs represented more of a park setting that a memorial ground; it had focal points of large, grandiose pillars; it had high walls separating design areas; and/or it had central lighting elements that could only be seen at night (the memorial is intended to be closed from dusk to dawn). One of the most common phrases spoken during the meeting when eliminating ideas was that the design did not give a person a "warm" or "gentle" feeling.

During one design evaluation, former First Selectman Pat Llodra, who is on the Advisory Panel, said, "It didn't speak to my heart," to which many agreed with the sentiment.

One design that received much praise, but was ultimately eliminated from the running having only received one vote in favor from a commission member, was labeled SH19.

There was a lengthy discussion on it over elements the members had not seen on previous designs, like "scar fields," which are raised, temporary grooves intentionally created in the soil.

Some members liked aspects of it, others struggled with the scar message and symbolism.

The project also included a quote from President Barack Obama in the designer's descriptive write-up that so impressed the members that they are considering the possible inclusion of the quote somehow in the future.

SHPMC member Alan Martin commented during the design's evaluation process that sometimes the narrative on a design is impressive, but not the design itself, or vice versa, which creates a challenge.

While discussing the SH19 design, Mr Lyddy asked, "Is there enough passion to keep this as a design?"

Ultimately, the answer was no, as it was not voted through, but it brought up the concept of each SHPMC member being allowed a "passion vote."

Advisory Panel member Allison Blais, who is the executive vice president and deputy director of strategy and advancement for the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, told the group how during the selection process for the 9/11 memorial, members had a passion vote if they felt strongly for keeping a prospective design that the majority did not agree on.

That passion vote would allow for a design to make it to the next round of consideration because of the one member who felt so strongly about it.

It was then decided that the SHPMC members would each receive one passion vote, if they wished, that they can use during this evaluation process. No members used their passion vote that evening.

At the end of the meeting, the SHPMC voted to add three more special meetings to their schedule to devote toward continuing evaluating the design submissions for the permanent memorial.

Those public dates include Wednesday, January 17; Thursday, January 18, and Wednesday, February 7, in addition to the already scheduled meeting date on Thursday, February 8. Each of these four meetings will begin at 7 pm, at a location to be determined.

Any SHPMC or Advisory Panel members who are unable to make it to future meetings are asked to still participate in the discussion by sending in digital feedback on the designs covered that evening.