A 5-foot long beam weighing 3,059 pounds that was retrieved from the remains of the World Trade Center towers will be presented at a 9/11 ceremony this Sunday, Sept. 11 from 1-5 p.m at Spring Park. The event is free to the public.
Madeline Noblett, communication manager for Poudre Fire Authority, said the beam was requested to be delivered in Fort Collins to be turned into a memorial to honor the firefighters that were trapped in the towers.
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From 1:00-3:00 p.m. Poudre Fire Authority will welcome the public to view the beam at Spring Park, located at 2000 Mathews St. At 3:00 p.m. the Honor Guard will begin the ceremony. Poudre Fire Authority Division Chief of Operations, Rick Vander Velde, will speak about the beam. After the ceremony, guests will be able to speak with firefighters that were deployed to the World Trade Center and firefighters that were included in obtaining the beam. There will be an artist rendering of the future memorial.
The Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund as well as New York’s Port Authority granted permission for a permanent memorial to be erected at Spring Park in Fort Collins.
According to a press release by the Poudre Fire Authority, the beam traveled about 1,800 miles in four days in October 2015 from New York Port Authority. The Poudre Fire Authority had raised the money in order to pay for its journey.
“It’s not about us (the PFA firefighters who brought the beam back to Fort Collins),” said Jim Durkin, a Poudre Fire Authority fire inspector in a press release. “It’s about what this represents.”
