State officials have delivered their final playbook for how Louisiana should honor the 14 people killed and the survivors of the Jan. 1, 2025 French Quarter attack, moving a long-awaited memorial a step closer to reality. The Governor’s Office of Victims Advocacy unveiled the recommendation Wednesday at a midday news conference, sharing the plan with families and the family-led Fourteen Foundation, officials said.
State Shares Recommendation With Families
According to WGNO, the governor’s victims advocacy office presented its final recommendation to the Fourteen Foundation at a 1 p.m. news conference on Wednesday. Officials described the proposal as the result of months of hearings and public input, and said the recommendation will now be sent to the governor and the appropriate state contracting agencies for the next round of review.
How The Commission Reached This Point
Gov. Jeff Landry created the French Quarter Terrorism Attack Memorial Commission by executive order on April 22, 2025, directing the panel to return a recommendation within a year and to include family members, elected officials and local stakeholders, as spelled out in the executive order. The commission’s launch last spring, and the state’s early push for public input on memorial options, was first reported when the state formed the commission for a Bourbon Street attack memorial.
Design, Names And Cost
State procurement documents released this spring outline a park-like memorial between roughly 500 and 1,200 square feet, with a major permanent installation and a smaller marker on Bourbon Street that would guide visitors to the main site. The solicitation lists all 14 victims by name, instructs designers to explicitly recognize injured survivors, calls for an illuminated installation with a QR code that links to biographical information, and pegs the project cost in the range of 2 million to 5 million dollars, according to the state RFP.
Why The Memorial Matters
The recommendation comes more than a year after a truck rolled into crowds of revelers on Bourbon Street on Jan. 1, 2025, killing 14 people and injuring dozens in an attack federal authorities treated as terrorism. The AP and other outlets documented the chaotic aftermath and the immediate calls from residents, business owners and visitors for stronger pedestrian protections in the French Quarter.
Timeline And Next Steps
The governor’s office opened a request for artist proposals earlier this year, accepting concept submissions from Feb. 13 through March 13, 2026, and setting a commission review period that leads to a final recommendation in late April, according to state procurement records. The Memorial Commission’s role is advisory only: the solicitation specifies that the panel can recommend a preferred design to the governor or a contracting agency but cannot award a contract, and that any contract decisions rest with the appropriate state entity.
Families, Foundation And The Road Ahead
Family members and the Fourteen Foundation are now weighing the commission’s recommendation alongside state officials, a process that WGNO reports began in earnest at Wednesday’s news conference. Officials at the briefing said the foundation and the governor’s office will work together on final site selection, fundraising and contractor choice to move the project into design and construction.
Designers, city officials and families still face what could be months of planning and approvals before a permanent memorial is in place. State officials say the goal is to strike a balance between a quieter space where families can grieve and a public-facing feature that educates visitors about the lives lost. Coverage that will continue to follow developments will track how the commission’s recommendation moves through the governor’s office and the state’s contracting process.
