Monument to honor 9/11 first responders

April 26, 2018 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

This rendering shows how the memorial will appear at day.
Reminder Publications submitted photo

SPRINGFIELD – Springfield will have a memorial to the men and women who were the first responders who lost their lives during the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

A campaign to finish raising $300,000 – about half of that sum has already has been donated – was announced on April 11 at a press event at City Hall.

The memorial will feature a piece of steel girder from the buildings that was donated to the city by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The memorial will be installed at Riverfront Park by Sept.11.

“We mourn and we honor those who died in those tragic events,” Police Commissioner John Barbieri said. The monument will list the names of the 470 first responders who died that day.

Mayor Domenic Sarno did not attend the event due to the death of his mother, but released the following statement, “Springfield’s September 11th Monument has been a more than ten-year project. First, the Spirit of Springfield secured an artifact from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. We then had to find its final resting place and the fitting design. With all of the changes to Springfield’s landscape, this took some time. We wanted to do something very special, very respectful, here in Springfield, with this artifact that represents the lives of so many first responders who gave their lives to save others.”

The designers of the monument, Geoff Arthur and Steve Edmunds of Salmon Studio explained the purpose behind the design.

“It will honor the shape, the meaning and the iconic presence of the buildings we lost on Sept. 11,” Arthur said.

The official description of the memorial explained, “During the day, visitors are presented with the world trade center artifact, balancing lightly on one end in the center of a circular memorial. a giant curved piece of metal holds the names of New York City’s first responders in two large columns with a gap in between. When night falls, this gap is filled with two memorable shadows, created using the silhouette of the artifact. Names remain lit for viewing and ambient light allows visitors to pay their respects.”

The memorial’s base will be paid for by the city with a cost of $50,000 and the memorial is part of the Riverfront Park Revitalization Plan.

Frank Colaccino of the Colvest Group, said, “We still have a lot of [fundraising} work to do.” He added, though, the committee has been so confident in reaching it shoal is t as signed contracts to move the monument forward.

Corporate citizens have already started to donate to the project with the first being

Columbia Gas of Massachusetts who funded the design. Others include AECOM Tishman, American International College, Associated Building Wreckers, Bacon Wilson PC, Berkshire Bank, Charlie Arment Trucking, Chart Organization, Commercial Distributing, Dunkin Donuts, Florence Bank, Fontaine Brothers, Forastiere Family Funeral Homes, Go Graphix, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Greater Springfield Credit Union, James Motors Inc., MassMutual Foundation, Monarch Enterprises, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Naismith’s, Nosh, PeoplesBank, RAB Lighting, SilverBrick Group, Simply Serendipity, Springfield Thunderbirds, St. Pierre - Phaneuf Funeral Chapels, The Colvest Group, Thunderbolt Council, Toomey-O'Brien/Wilbraham Funeral Homes, Valet Park of America, and White Companies Charitable Trust.

Donations can be made by sending a tax-deductible contribution to Spirit of Springfield, 1350 Main Street, Suite 1004, Springfield, MA 01103, or PeoplesBank, 330 Whitney Avenue, Holyoke, MA 01040 or at any branch. Checks are made payable to Spirit of Springfield/September 11th Monument. The Spirit of Springfield will host a fundraiser on valleygives.com through May 1.

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