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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Buchanan-Cortlandt-Croton 9/11 Remembrance Memorial will be dedicated at Croton Landing Tuesday at 3 p.m. The memorial has been built at the northernmost point of the Croton Landing Park.
Attendees are asked to meet in the northern-most parking lot on Elliot Way at 2:30 p.m., which is a half-mile walk to the memorial. A van will be available for those who wish to ride.
The project has been broken into two phases. Phase one is scheduled to be completed Sept. 11. A large boulder was moved into place on a footing at Croton Landing, and the 14-foot twisted piece of steel from the World Trade Center north tower was mounted to the rock, forming a sundial. Hours on the sundial will be marked by medallions, with depictions of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
"We will get together on Sept. 11 and everyone will say how proud we are to have it done, but it's not about your or me, it's about how the world changed on Sept. 11," said James Rhodes, the project architect.
Phase two, as planned by volunteer task force members, includes a cast bronze statue of a woman reaching toward the tip of the steel, and a nearby meditation garden. It is expected to cost up to $45,000.
Rhodes said design of phase two is moving forward.
"So far we have enough money to buy clay so [Lauren Davis] can work, but the space that she has to work in was also donated, and that's worth a lot more than the clay," he said. "When we'll need the money the most is when the clay sculpture is done to cast it in bronze. We hope to have enough money when she's done sculpting."
Construction of the memorial began on July 24, 2012. The task force to design and fundraise for the memorial was formed in 2009, after project manager Janet Mainiero read about the Port Authority's intention to distribute twisted pieces of steel from the World Trade Center towers for use in memorials.
Memorial construction was not always a foregone conclusion. For years, the piece of steel collected from the Port Authority sat in storage at local firehouses, as volunteer task force members said fundraising was slow. The foundation established by the volunteers would eventually contribute $15,000 toward the construction of the project.
The three municipalities whose names are borne by the memorial contributed a total of $20,000 by the beginning of the summer of 2012. The Town of Cortlandt contributed $15,000, and the Villages of Croton and Buchanan contributed $3,900 and $1,100 respectively.
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