Originally written by Carl White.
Last May, I noticed some construction men working on a small hill near the Pavillion in Cos Cob Park. Not too long after, I read in the newspaper that this was going to be the site for the new Greenwich September 11 Memorial. Several years ago, I had donated money for a memorial and was wondering when it would be built. Then I received an invitation to attend the dedication on September 11th of this year. I received a follow-up notice that shuttle buses would be provided from Bruce Park, River Road, and the Cos Cob Marina. They were expecting a large crowd. They weren’t disappointed. Five-hundred people attended the dedication!
Thirty-three victims with a connection to Greenwich died on September 11, 2001. As we all remember, two planes flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in their collapse. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon, and one crashed into a field in Shanksville PA. (It’s believed a Greenwich man – Donald Freeman Greene – helped storm the cockpit and prevented United Airlines Flight 93 from hitting another target in Washington). These were some of the most horrendous acts of terrorism ever perpetrated.
A group of people in Greenwich in 2010 decided Greenwich should have a September 11 Memorial to honor our local victims. They started the Greenwich Community Projects Fund. Although there is a monument on Great Captain’s Island, this is only accessible to the public in the summer months (June to September) when the ferry operates. At Sherwood Island Park in Westport, there is a monument, but this requires some driving. Greenwich residents wanted something close by to remember the fallen. The project languished for years until several influential residents got involved. There was even talk of abandoning the project and returning donations. A series of events were held as fundraisers, including a benefit concert and a Vineyard Vines commemorative tie and scarf sale. Donations varied from 1- to 50,000 dollars. In the end, the non-profit group managed to raise $750,000 from 1,000 donors for the memorial.
The next hurdle was to find a location for the memorial that was easily accessible to all. Some suggested Grass Island, but this was turned down because of its proximity to the Sewage Treatment Plant. Another suggestion was Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. People felt this wasn’t a quiet enough location, given the loud concerts, auto shows, and Interstate 95. The end of Steamboat Road and Byram Park was mentioned, but parking was an issue. Greenwich Point was also a consideration. Once again the accessibility by out-of-towners was an issue. (Out-of-towners must pay a fee to enter.) Finally, they settled on the newly created Cos Cob Park, which is an ideal location for the memorial. The park is accessible to all during daylight hours. It has plenty of parking.
Landscape designers Katherine Herman and Cheryl Brown from the Doyle Herman Design Association of Greenwich were employed to create an appropriate setting for the memorial. They chose a knoll overlooking Cos Cob Harbor. The DeLuca Construction Company excavated the knoll, creating gently curving sidewalks which lead up to a black granite paving stone base. (The curve of the sidewalks was based on the mathematically perfect shape of certain seashells.)
Charles Hilton Architects of Greenwich was chosen to create the actual memorial. As you may recall after Ground Zero had been cleared, two spotlights projected two beams of light toward the sky – in effect creating two towers of ghostly light – that could be seen from New Jersey to Connecticut. The architects tried to capture the idea of the illuminated towers. They also remembered the impromptu memorials around the Trade Center that contained flowers, pictures, and names of loved ones and small American flags. The glass towers with the victims’ names seem to capture all the meaning and sentiment of those memorials.
The memorial consists of two glass towers, which are 12 feet high and 22 inches on a side. Low-iron content glass was used to create the towers so the glass won’t discolor over time. An image of an American flag has been frosted into the towers with a field of stars at the top and stripes running down toward the ground. Each stripe has the names of several victims engraved on it. Radiating out from the base are three metallic compass points (embedded metal strips) with the names World Trade Center-New York, The Pentagon – Washington DC, and Shanksville PA engraved on them respectively. At the end of the World Trade Center compass needle is a piece of crumpled steel from the WTC buildings. The approach to the monument is a gradual circular sidewalk, which brings you to a circular plaza composed of black paving stone. This was meant to represent the WTC Plaza. There is a granite bench next to the memorial, where people can sit and view the beautifully sculptured glass while overlooking Cos Cob Harbor.
There have been other memorials in Town to the victims of 9-11. The Second Congregational Church – located on the corner of Maple and West Putnam Avenue – created a Greenwich Labyrinth of Peace for people to quietly walk. The Glenville Fire Department has an 8-foot section of a 1,700-pound I-Beam from the World Trade Center displayed outside the firehouse on Glenville Road. There’s also the monument on Great Captain’s Island, and various plaques and memorial benches around town.
The most impressive memorial to me is the Twin Tower sculpture in Cos Cob Park. I was there one morning at sunrise. The sunlight seemed to be generated from within the glass tower, and the glass seemed to magnify the light. For some reason, despite the terrible tragedy marked by this memorial, I felt better as I viewed the reflecting glass. There seemed to be an unexpected feeling of Hope, which surprised me. I pray that this memorial gives the families, and loved ones, of the victims the same Hope I felt when I saw the Greenwich September 11th Memorial on that beautiful early morning. As one relative said, she felt a sense of closure because she could visit the Memorial here in Greenwich.
SOURCE
Dumas, Tim. The Incredible History Behind the 9/11 Memorial. Greenwich Sentinel. 11 September 2015. A1. Google. Accessed 25 Sept 2015.
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