Gypsy
08-20-2007, 17:22
For those of you in or around the Chicago area...
I do plan to attend and if anyone has a message you'd like me to add, I'd be happy to do so for you.
Sept. 11 exhibit headed for Aurora
Memorial to be displayed in October
August 16, 2007
BY KRISTEN ZAMBO Staff Writer
AURORA -- When the World Trade Center's Twin Towers crumbled amid heavy damage and intense fires on Sept. 11, 2001, the historic attacks and grueling cleanup left an indelible mark on the nation.
Six years later, people across the country can leave their marks on another piece of history.
Visitors can ink their names in Aurora this fall on two steel beams bound for the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum, to be erected on the site of the World Trade Center.
"It's a tangible connection from the people of Aurora to the memorial," said Lynn Rasic, spokeswoman for the memorial and museum. "People physically become part of building this memorial."
Each manufactured beam weighs four tons, with two beams circulating initially for signatures.
The beams are part of the Sept. 11 Memorial Tour exhibit that will stop Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 at the Aurora Transportation Center at 233 N. Broadway. Aurora is one of 15 cities nationwide on this first tour across the country.
The Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum will span eight of the World Trade Center's 16 acres in New York City and include two large reflecting pools with water cascading 30 feet from waterfalls on either side. The memorial site will include a landscaped park outside the museum, which is expected to feature artifacts taken from the towers and newspaper accounts of the destruction and cleanup.
Rasic said the memorial tour organization selected Aurora for the exhibit because "there isn't a place in any corner of this country that hasn't been impacted" by the attacks.
"We're trying to hit other markets, as well," she added of the possibility of bringing the exhibit back to Illinois for a Chicago showing.
The exhibit also is to commemorate local firefighters who traveled to New York City to help the emergency response and recovery efforts.
"There was so much outpouring of support from all corners of the country," Rasic said. "Part of building this memorial is about honoring that spirit. As horrific and tragic as 9/11 was, we also saw such tremendous response that showed the best of humanity."
The 37-foot beams will be collected from Owen Steel in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 10 to begin the tour, remaining in that city for the sixth anniversary. The signature-bearing beams will be used for some part of the memorial or museum, Rasic said.
"Most likely it will not be exposed, but we'll photograph the beams with the signatures," she said.
Lisa Jungels, events coordinator with the Aurora Mayor's Office of Special Events, said crews will start setting up the exhibit at the Transportation Center after 6 p.m. Oct. 12, to be least disruptive to commuters.
The National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum may tally $350 million in building and start-up costs, and the group has raised $300 million from private donations.
Construction work began at the New York City site in August 2006, and crews are expected to begin steel work later this year.
"What happened is too important for us to forget or lose sight of," Rasic said.
National Tour
Exhibit stops: Columbia, S.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Charleston, W.Va.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Lexington, Ky.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lansing, Mich.; Aurora, Ill.; Madison, Wis.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Neb. and Wichita, Kan.
I do plan to attend and if anyone has a message you'd like me to add, I'd be happy to do so for you.
Sept. 11 exhibit headed for Aurora
Memorial to be displayed in October
August 16, 2007
BY KRISTEN ZAMBO Staff Writer
AURORA -- When the World Trade Center's Twin Towers crumbled amid heavy damage and intense fires on Sept. 11, 2001, the historic attacks and grueling cleanup left an indelible mark on the nation.
Six years later, people across the country can leave their marks on another piece of history.
Visitors can ink their names in Aurora this fall on two steel beams bound for the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum, to be erected on the site of the World Trade Center.
"It's a tangible connection from the people of Aurora to the memorial," said Lynn Rasic, spokeswoman for the memorial and museum. "People physically become part of building this memorial."
Each manufactured beam weighs four tons, with two beams circulating initially for signatures.
The beams are part of the Sept. 11 Memorial Tour exhibit that will stop Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 at the Aurora Transportation Center at 233 N. Broadway. Aurora is one of 15 cities nationwide on this first tour across the country.
The Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum will span eight of the World Trade Center's 16 acres in New York City and include two large reflecting pools with water cascading 30 feet from waterfalls on either side. The memorial site will include a landscaped park outside the museum, which is expected to feature artifacts taken from the towers and newspaper accounts of the destruction and cleanup.
Rasic said the memorial tour organization selected Aurora for the exhibit because "there isn't a place in any corner of this country that hasn't been impacted" by the attacks.
"We're trying to hit other markets, as well," she added of the possibility of bringing the exhibit back to Illinois for a Chicago showing.
The exhibit also is to commemorate local firefighters who traveled to New York City to help the emergency response and recovery efforts.
"There was so much outpouring of support from all corners of the country," Rasic said. "Part of building this memorial is about honoring that spirit. As horrific and tragic as 9/11 was, we also saw such tremendous response that showed the best of humanity."
The 37-foot beams will be collected from Owen Steel in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 10 to begin the tour, remaining in that city for the sixth anniversary. The signature-bearing beams will be used for some part of the memorial or museum, Rasic said.
"Most likely it will not be exposed, but we'll photograph the beams with the signatures," she said.
Lisa Jungels, events coordinator with the Aurora Mayor's Office of Special Events, said crews will start setting up the exhibit at the Transportation Center after 6 p.m. Oct. 12, to be least disruptive to commuters.
The National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum may tally $350 million in building and start-up costs, and the group has raised $300 million from private donations.
Construction work began at the New York City site in August 2006, and crews are expected to begin steel work later this year.
"What happened is too important for us to forget or lose sight of," Rasic said.
National Tour
Exhibit stops: Columbia, S.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Charleston, W.Va.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Lexington, Ky.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lansing, Mich.; Aurora, Ill.; Madison, Wis.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Neb. and Wichita, Kan.