City Council OK's 9/11 Memorial Site Plan

City council has approved a site plan for the 9/11 memorial sculpture that will soon be installed in front of the Brighton Area  Fire Department.  The centerpiece of the memorial is a twisted steel beam that was retrieved from the heart of the ruins of the World Trade Center towers.

According to the site plan, the steel beam, which measures roughly eight feet in length and is about three feet wide, will be suspended by four metal cables attached to crooked steel beams. 

Broken pieces of concrete will lay beneath the beam. Surrounding the memorial a wall will stand, etched with the names of firefighters who parished that day and the words, "We will never forget".

The concept was designed free of charge by architect Pete Lindhout of Lindhout Associates.  Unilock, a local manufacturer of paving stones and retaining walls has agreed to install the sculpture at no cost to the city.

The through an application process that started in 2009.  The Brighton Area Fire Department sent in an outline of the memorial along with their application, including where and how the beam would be displayed to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the organization that oversees the housing of the World Trade Center’s ruins.

Captain Greg Mobray of the Brighton Area Fire Department, along with five fellow firefighters then went to New York City to pick up the piece of steel and to visit ground zero for the first time.

“It was very emotional since it was the first time any of us had been,” Mobray said.  “Pictures just don’t do it justice.  It was truly eye-opening to see the true magnitude of what happened that day.”

The beam itself will remain unmodified and shall be preserved as it sits, twisted and cloaked in rust, Mobray said. 

The city plans to host a county-wide 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sept. 11 this year.  During the ceremony, the memorial will be unveiled.