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PW getssteel from Twin Towers
Prince William got a special delivery last week as four pieces of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center were trucked into the county.The steel beams, totaling 59,768 pounds, are part of what remained of the Twin Towers after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
For the last 10 years, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been storing all that was left from the World Trade Center. Last summer, they put out word that they're giving the pieces away for free to local governments for use in memorials.
The Board of County Supervisors decided they wanted pieces to incorporate into the county's Freedom Park war memorial and they budgeted $10,000 in shipping expenses to retrieve the steel.
Earlier this month, a delegation of county officials drove to New York to pick out the county's pieces and on June 16, the steel arrived via flatbed truck.
County spokesman Jason Grant said in an email on Tuesday that the final cost was approximately $4,000.
“We were able to take advantage of a day where the Port Authority had a crane on site, so that saved us about $3,000 since we did not have to contract that service out,” he said. “Also, we used Prince William County equipment to unload the steel, so again, another $3,000 in savings.”
Freedom Park, a small quiet area set aside for war memorials, is located outside the McCoart Building at the County Complex. The park has long hosted memorials to county residents who have died in foreign wars.
In 2006, the Liberty Memorial was added to honor the 23 county residents who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
That memorial -- a pentagon-shaped pool with two tower-like fountains in the center, is made of Pennsylvania granite and a large block that came from the Pentagon. Because most of the county's victims died at the Pentagon, the memorial focuses on that attack.
But three -- two civilians and a volunteer firefighter -- died in New York City and the new steel memorial will focus on that attack.
It will also help to tie in another memorial that is planned to honor the county's public safety officers who have died in the line of duty.
According to board Chairman Corey Stewart, the county will sponsor a design competition to determine how the steel will be incorporated into the new Sept. 11 memorial.
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