Politics & Government

Township's 9/11 Memorial Taking Shape

With World Trade Tower steel in hand, monument designer and engineers adjust concept.

In a little over four weeks, Warren Township will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a ceremony dedicating a monument at the municipal complex.

Due to adjustments necessitated by the massive, shriveled steel beam from the towers that is a key component of the planned monument, the project won't be completed for the dedication, but residents will get a chance to see the steel and participate in the memorial ceremony.

When completed, the memorial will include a circular area with paver bricks, benches and the monument itself, rising more than 13 feet with two white marble columns holding the steel. The project has been altered from the original vision created by Ralph Garafola because of the massive size and weight of the steel centerpiece.

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Originally, the monument's two supporting columns—which will be placed and sized to replicate the towers—were to be made of black granite, similar to the existing veterans memorial at the municipal complex.

But when engineers calculated the size of column needed to support the steel, the sources of granite sufficiently large dwindled to one: a lone mine in Africa.

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"It would be great of we could get it," Garafola said, adding the added cost and time for mining and shipping proved prohibitive.

Instead the monument will use what's known as "Barry White Granite," for the location of its source in Barry, Vt.—and the same type of granite used in the the construction of the World Trade Towers.

"We're about three months out on the granite," Chief of Police Russell Leffert, who has been coordinating the project, said. For the Sept. 11 event, Chief Leffert expects the area will be prepared, with most of the pavers set, benches, donated by the Warren Lions Club, in place—and two large holes where the columns will be placed.

And the steel from the World Trade Towers will be hoisted by a crane above the site.

Once completed, the columns will include engravings to further replicate the towers' appearance.

"That was always the concept—to replicate the appearance of the tower," Garafola said.

The project was launched Sept. 11, 2010, with a goal of raising $20,000 to cover the costs of construction and materials. Donations from residents and groups, including the Warren Township PBA, Marion Associates and others, have totaled more than $12,000 so far.

But Garafola said he was most impressed by the $3,000 donation by township students, money raised through students' coin drives and other fundraising projects.

"That blew me away," he said. "Not only the money, but the effort and the imagination to dream it up."

The ceremony is scheduled to be held at 9 a.m., Sept. 11.


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