Before the granite monument erected at the site, Father Stephanos Doudoukjian of the St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church in Watervliet asked that God have mercy on the souls of the Armenian nation's “myriad of martyrs who were executed in 1915 during the genocide in Western Armenia, Syria and other places.”

It has been a long and winding road for the Knights and Daughters of Vartan, the fraternal Armenian organization that has spear-headed the effort, and Ralph Enokian, co-chair of the Capital District Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument Committee.
The project was proposed to the city council, who authorized a resolution to allow for the erection of the monument, but did not designate an intended site. The committee was originally interested in Riverfront Park, but due to delays in selecting a site within the park, they began looking at other parks including Beman and Frear.