Temporary COVID-19 memorial to be removed next month

CONTACT: Roland Martinez, Department of Human Services
[email protected]
210-207-5920

SAN ANTONIO (September 17, 2021) - The temporary memorial, Deep in Our Hearts: A Memorial to Lives Lost to COVID, will be taken down by mid-October to make way for construction of the new Civic Park. If someone has a memorialized heart on the fence line, they may remove it before October 15.
The memorial, at the corner of Market and South Alamo streets west of Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, was a tribute to local lives lost to COVID-19 while encouraging community members to be vaccinated. The City of San Antonio and community organizations came together May 27 to dedicate the memorial, which consisted of more than 3,400 red heart shapes (12' x 13') attached to the chain link fencing that surrounds the future Civic Park.
Since late May, family members and loved ones wrote names, prayers, attached photos, brought flowers, etc., at the memorial site. Memorial hearts, one for each person who has passed, extended the full distance of the fence line from the corner of Market and South Alamo to HemisFair, and from the corner to the Convention Center.
Volunteers are needed to take down the thousands of hearts that have been affixed to the fence line. The removal will be from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Friday, October 15. Volunteers may sign up through this link - https://givepul.se/98octi - and should bring wire cutters or heavy-duty scissors for cutting plastic tie strips.
Memorial partners included the City of San Antonio, City Department of Human Services, Bexar County, Bridges to Care San Antonio, Christ Episcopal Church, Compassionate San Antonio, Compassionate SA Grassroots, Metropolitan Health District, FPC Architects, HemisFair Development and Conservancy, Lackland Chaplaincy, City of San Antonio Mayor's Office, SACRD.org, San Antonio Food Bank, and The Jewish Federation.