At the Special Commission Meeting held on August 6, the Surfside Town Commission gave final approval to the permanent memorial honoring the 98 souls lost in the collapse of Champlain Towers South. Construction on the memorial, to be located at the street end park at 88th Street, will begin shortly.
The memorial project began in 2022, when then newly serving Mayor Shlomo Danzinger formed the Memorial Committee to guide the community through the process of designing a permanent tribute. For five years, the Committee worked in close partnership with victims’ families, survivors, first responders, and residents to shape a memorial worthy of the lives lost and the resilience of the Surfside community.
Like many public projects, the memorial’s path was not without challenges. The original design, initially proposed at approximately $7.5 million, required significant value engineering to bring the project within a scope the Town could fund. In March of 2026, two months before Danzinger returned to the Mayor’s office, having previously lost his reelection bid in 2024, the project was scaled back to approximately $3.5 million, a reduction that allowed the memorial to proceed without triggering a public referendum that could have delayed or derailed the project entirely, with the final figure inclusive of a $1 million State grant.
As part of the August 6 approval, the Commission adopted several final design changes shaped directly by feedback from residents, the Planning and Zoning Board, family members, survivors, and first responders. The proposed image of the collapsed building was replaced with the image of hands, representing love, family, and continuity. This was the symbolic image originally approved by the Memorial Committee back in 2022, and the Commission felt strongly that it should be restored as the guiding image of the memorial.
The Commission also voted to remove the concrete slabs and rebar that had been laid out through the street end park. These elements not only posed a public safety hazard, but based on gathered feedback, they also caused unnecessary pain to families, survivors, and residents who pass by the site; however, the Memorial Committee’s input informs a significant part of the memorial’s overall design. The 13 Pillars of Light, which begin near the Collins Avenue entrance, incorporate rebar and debris from the building within the columns, as directed by family members contributing on the Committee. The elements provide a tangible connection to the site and to those whose lives were lost.
Mayor Shlomo Danzinger said the memorial represents more than a tribute; it represents an opportunity for the town to heal.
“For five years, this community has carried the weight of remembering 98 friends and neighbors without a permanent place to do so,” said Danzinger. “This memorial gives us that place. It is tasteful, it is dignified, and it was shaped by the very people who loved them most. A memorial cannot undo what happened here, but it can give a town a way forward. Now we have a permanent place to hold our neighbors in our hearts, and to heal together as a community.”
The Town of Surfside thanks the Memorial Committee for its five years of dedicated service, as well as every member of the community who contributed feedback throughout the design process. Additional details on the construction timeline will be shared as the project moves forward.