Bid specifications for the 9/11 First Responders Tribute have been released as North Arlington moves forward with its planned tribute.
Sealed bids will be opened in North Arlington for the tribute which will be located at Zadroga Park on Schuyler Avenue on Thursday, July 25 at 10 a.m. The bid items include 20 cubic yards of reinforced concrete retaining wall with a maximum retained height of three feet, concrete pedestal consisting of eight cubic yards, replacement of 18 square yards of concrete sidewalk, the relocation of 25 linear feet of chain link, the installation of 17 linear feet of custom decorative fence and the placement of a 13 foot long steel beam relic atop the pedestal.
The site decided on by the mayor and council for the memorial to first responders is located at the James Zadroga Soccer [Field].
The safety issue for the police has been intertwined with the lack of parking and access at the soccer field. The soccer association locks the gates to limit access to only those that have permits to play on the field. The gates will now be unlocked during certain hours giving memorial visitors parking in the lot, not on the side of Schuyler Avenue.
North Arlington was one of 162 communities in New Jersey that received a piece of the steel from the World Trade Center. The beam weighs 393 pounds and is just less than 11 feet in length, an issue when it has come to the design of a memorial.
The location of the memorial sits at the top of the park right by Schuyler Avenue, where a chain link fence has become a September 11 memorial. There will be a section of fence that will be removed and the memorials that are on the fence will have to be relocated.
