By Arthur Cleveland The Leader Herald
FLORIDA – The town’s new National Veterans Park will have an unexpected addition standing alongside the other exhibits: steel salvaged from the World Trade Center.
According to Councilman Dan Wilson, who also serves as the Veterans Park’s committee chairman, the park will receive sections of steel from the World Trade Center, specifically a piece of the second tower, from floors 93 to 96.
According to emails, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved the application from the committee, verbally agreeing to send a piece of steel to the park, which is next to Town Hall on Fort Hunter Road.
“Our park was definitely non-for-profit, so we got a designated piece of steel,” Wilson said.
Wilson said he still needs to sign the proper paperwork for the park to receive it.
“If I get a notification Monday or Tuesday, I’ll be right down there to get it,” Wilson said.
Wilson said it isn’t known where many pieces of steel from the towers were originally put. However, the piece they are receiving still has its identification numbers. The steel is bent from the damage caused by the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and from the work to clean up the site.
Wilson said the steel will go in the War on Terrorism section of the park, when completed. Wilson said the steel will be installed sometime over the winter.
The first phase of park construction began last year when a memorial honoring all of the town’s veterans was erected. The park was dedicated last November.
The second phase, which will be under way for several years, will include a large concrete walkway that stretches around the grounds, as well as plaques and memorials. Plans call for each war to have a plaque detailing the history of the conflict, along with interactive barcodes that could be scanned by smartphones, allowing users to access media for the site.
Wilson said phase two of the construction will begin after a dedication ceremony Nov. 10.
In addition to the memorial, the park also contains a T2 Buckeye jet that was used by the Navy. The Vietnam War-era jet was donated by the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
