By Kate Burrows Fife Free Press
Washington State — A committee in Milton is in the process of developing a memorial remembering the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Formed in February, the committee has requested a 16- to 18-foot beam from one of the towers that will be displayed in a monument near Veterans Memorial. With Jack Chandler at the helm of the project, a 501(c)3 has been established to raise funds for the memorial.
Chandler estimates the project could require a $50,000 budget or more, and local businesses have already expressed their support, pledging to donate materials and supplies as needed.
The memorial itself would describe exactly which tower and floor the piece came from. A seven-member committee in New York City is tasked with reviewing requests from cities around the world that would like to display similar memorials in their own communities. Pieces of the fallen towers are currently stored in the 80,000-square-foot Hangar 17 at Kennedy Airport, where specialized machines control humidity to prevent the steel from rusting.
After the committee approves a request, it is up to the monument’s organizers to obtain and deliver the piece – and the committee in Milton has already received offers from residents willing to make the drive to obtain the piece, which could weigh anywhere from 4,000-5,000 pounds.
Chandler does not anticipate officially unveiling the memorial until fall 2014 or later, but he has already been in contact with organizers in Federal Way and Kennewick, Wash., where World Trade Center memorials are currently on display.
“We’re very excited about this project, and would like to have it completed as soon as possible,” Chandler said. “Cities around the United States are not the only groups that want to obtain these pieces for memorials…countries around the world who lost their own people are requesting these pieces, too.”
