Chris Lavender Times-News
GRAHAM, NC — Alamance County is giving the public an opportunity to help fund its World Trade Center Memorial and also decide where it would be permanently located.
The 4 inch by 4 inch piece of metal weighs 25 pounds. Sam Roberts Times-News
Assistant County Manager Bryan Hagood said a fundraising campaign launched Monday through the county would allow the public during the next 60 days to contribute to financing for the project. The Alamance County Board of Commissioners approved $12,656 for the project earlier this month. The commissioners had planned to use unappropriated fund balance to cover the project’s costs with hopes of raising funds to offset the overall costs.
The county government’s website provides a link with more information about the memorial and a place where residents can vote for one of three suggested permanent locations or make suggestions of alternate locations. The address is here.
Hagood said the county is using the fundraising site indiegogo.com to raise funds for the project. The county’s World Trade Center Memorial information is also located here.
The county is seeking at least $2,500 through its Indiegogo campaign with an overall goal of raising $12,656 for the project. For a donation of $20, the county would include the donor’s name or organization on a plaque honoring those who donated.
Hagood said that Haw River, the village of Alamance, Graham and Ossipee have agreed to provide $500 each toward the project.
The county also will accept checks payable to the Alamance County 9/11 Memorial, 124 W. Elm St., Graham, NC 27253.
According to Hagood, $10,656 will be used for the production of the memorial piece, and $2,000 for a base for the memorial and signage to be placed nearby to interpret the piece.
Greensboro-based D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. Inc. donated a piece of steel from what was also known as the South Tower to the county in May 2013. The wrecking company served as a consultant to New York City in charge of the World Trade Center 9/11 demolition project. The donated steel weighs about 25 pounds and is four inches square.
The memorial will be completed by this September 11 by Beechwood Metalworks owner Casey Lewis, who has designed the sculpture. It will have metal pieces representing first responders — police, firefighters, emergency medical services and a central communications 911 operator. They would be displayed lifting the donated steel. The figures would be cast in bronze. The pedestal on which the first responders would stand would be a replica of the Twin Towers fabricated in steel.
The permanent location could be at May Memorial Library, the Alamance County Historic Courthouse, the County Administration Building or the Children’s Museum of Alamance County. The board still must decide where the sculpture might be placed.
