June 14, 2006
Memorial honors 343 firemen killed on Sept. 11
The first permanent, proper memorial to the firefighters who died on September 11, 2001 was unveiled this past weekend, affixed to fire station directly across the street from the spot where the Twin Towers stood.
The bronze memorial is a 56-foot-long, six-foot-high, 7,000-pound bas-relief mural depicting one tower in flames, the other at impact, surrounded on both sides by firemen rushing ahead with a hose, a fireboat heading toward the scene and other firemen digging through the wreckage.
"Dedicated to those who fell and to those who carry on," it reads.
One truck is identified as "Tower Ladder 343," signifying the number of New York Fire Department men who died that day. The names of the firemen are all listed on the bottom half of the mural, with a faint discoloration already showing from where family members have made rubbings of the names.
Credit for the memorial's design, according to the New York Times, goes to Rambusch Company's chairman emeritus, Viggo Bech Rambusch, his sons, Martin V. and Edwin P. Rambusch, Joseph A. Oddi, a delineator, and sculptor Joseph Petrovics.
Although much of the memorial's multi-million cost was donated, the primary funds were raised by Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, a branch of the international law firm Holland & Knight. Glenn J. Winuk, a partner at the law firm who served as a volunteer firefighter in Jericho, N.Y., was never heard from again after he headed the one block from the law firm to help at the towers on Sept. 11.
The firm initially raised funds for ice needed for the rescue workers in the months after the attacks -- including donations from international shipping executives Thomas Hsu, Gregory B. Hadjieleftheriadis and Axel Karlshoej. But when the ice was no longer needed and donated money remained, fire officials proposed using the money for a memorial, according to the Times.
The memorial, which is lit at night, is located on the south side of Ground Zero at Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10. It's at the corner of Liberty and Greenwich streets, facing the still-shrouded Deutsche Bank building. The memorial's base is still awaiting 11 paving stones that will be made of garnet-flecked Adirondack granite to match the Freedom Tower cornerstone.
More pictures after the jump.
June 14, 2006 08:30 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Sightsology
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