A month ahead of the 10th anniversary of the atrocity, a memorial to the 20 first graders and six teachers killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting opened to the public on Sunday.

The venue, which is close to the school, was not going to host a ceremony. On the anniversary of the massacre and other occasions when it is remembered, it has become customary in Newtown to observe the occasion in solitude.

On Saturday, a special tour of the grounds was offered to certain victims’ family members.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal of Newtown, the town’s highest elected official, stated, “I think they deserve not to have the bright lights of the world on them.”

The memorial was intended to be a serene space for reflection. A water feature with a sycamore tree in the centre and the names of the victims carved on the top of a surrounding supporting wall is reached by paths lined with a variety of plants.

The water flow was designed to cause floating candles, flowers, and other objects to circulate in a circle around the tree.

On November 13, 2022, flowers are placed next to Charlotte Bacon’s name, which is engraved into the stone of a monument honouring the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

Jennifer Hubbard visited the memorial this weekend during a private appointment, similar to some other victims’ family members.

Catherine Violet Hubbard, her 6-year-old daughter, was one of the kids killed on December 14, 2012.

Last year, town voters approved spending $3.7 million on the memorial. When the State Bond Commission approved granting the municipality $2.5 million for the project, part of the cost was offset.

After the town established a special commission to direct the memorial plans in the fall of 2013, the project encountered several difficulties.

Officials reduced the project’s $10 million cost because of anxiety that voters wouldn’t support it. Some prospective sites were rejected, including one next to a shooting club where gunshots could be heard.