9/11 World Trade Center artifacts to come to the Island

An artists rendering shows the art in front of the new Fire Station 92.

image credit: Contributed art

The Mercer Island Fire Department will this Thursday, June 26, receive artifacts from the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center a part of the floor and ceiling sections of one tower garage, and a post between the two that will eventually be incorporated into an art installation and placed in front of the newly remodeled Fire Station 92. A small ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. at the North Fire Station.

The Island was awarded the very last artifacts from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Amber Britton of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, and when the pieces arrive they will be received appropriately.

We want to show our due sense of respect, said Fire Chief Chris Tubbs.

The artifacts shipped last week after they were cut into pieces at a Brooklyn studio and boarded onto trucks. They will likely stop in Spokane, where the International Association of Firefighters will be meeting.

We will be escorting the piece before it arrives on Mercer Island and we will have firefighters in Class A uniforms, an honor guard and pipes and drums on hand to receive the piece, wrote Tubbs in an email last week. We will also likely have a large flag draped across 78th using two ladder trucks.

Island firefighters have a personal connection to Ground Zero. Battalion Chief Shawn Matheson was deployed to rescue efforts in September of 2001.

For the law enforcement community this event continues to resonate within our industry, says Tubbs, because it was a significant event not only in loss of life...but in the fundamental changes that came about after the event.

Similar installations in other Eastside cities, have caused some controversy. A bronze sculpture made from steel from the World Trade Center and stone from the Pentagon has struggled to find a home after plans fell through for its installation at Heritage Park in Olympia and Kirkland residents vocally opposed it, arguing it had no local connection.

Originally posted here:
9/11 World Trade Center artifacts to come to the Island