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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. The Buchanan-Cortlandt-Croton 9/11 Remembrance Memorial is scheduled to be completed by the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks, and residents can attend a dedication ceremony Sept. 11 at Croton Landing, Croton Village officials announced.
The one-ton, 14-foot steelbeam is mounted to a boulder at the site and forms a sundial. The steel is from the north tower of the World Trade Center.
"It is a very personal and private event for the women who lost husbands and family, so for them, and actually for you and me, it's a very personal and private matter for what this means to you. We will get together on Sept. 11, and everyone will say how proud we are to have it done, but it's not about you or me, it's about how the world changed on Sept. 11," said James Rhodes, memorial architect,.
"It stands as a symbol that the community cares," he said.
Construction began July 24 at the site, but the task force that designed the memorial was formed in 2009. Project director Janet Mainiero said she began working after reading about how the Port Authority was distributing twisted pieces of steel from the World Trade Center wreckage for use in memorials.
Originally, memorial designers envisioned a cast bronze statue of a woman reaching toward the piece of steel, with medallions depicting the events of Sept. 11 surrounding the sundial. After fundraising remained slow for more than one year, organizers broke the project into two phases, lowered project cost estimates and used in-kind contracting services.
The task force is hoping to begin fundraising for phase two, projected to cost up to $45,000, after the first phase of the memorial is completed and dedicated.
The Town of Cortlandt contributed $15,000 toward the project; Village of Croton, $3,900; and Village of Buchanan, $1,100; for a total of $20,000.
Attendees are asked to assemble in the Croton Landing parking lot at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 11 and walk a half-mile to the memorial site. Those who need a ride to the site will be ferried in a van. The ceremony begins at 3 p.m.
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