By John Collins
The Lowell Sun
HUDSON, N.H. — The World Trade Center Artifacts Program will give the town a steel beam salvaged from Ground Zero to be the centerpiece of Hudson’s planned 9/11 Monument at Benson Park, Selectman Roger Coutu announced.
Hudson 9-11 Memorial Committee volunteers will divide the 20-foot beam evenly before standing the pieces on end in a concrete base, surrounded by five granite slabs to create the visual effect of the former Twin Towers and the Pentagon, said Coutu, the selectmen’s liaison to the committee.
“We have a flatbed truck and volunteers ready to drive to New York and pick up the steel beam at La Guardia Airport, as soon as we get the word to come down,” Coutu said.
Coutu said he planned to join Hudson Fire Capt. Dave Morin and other 9/11 Memorial Committee members for a site walk at Benson Park on last night to scout the memorial’s planned location inside the park, close to the handicapped-entrance gate.
The memorial’s twin towers, and an “industrial-sized” flagpole and flag to be donated by the Hudson VFW, will be visible to passing motorists on Kimball Hill Road, according to Coutu.
“It’s not just about having a visible, lasting monument, the greater significance is that it will be a talking point for parents when they bring their kids into the park to see it,” Coutu noted. “Parents can use the monument to explain to their children -- and their children can later tell their children -- all about the events of that day.”
With the help of multiple volunteers and donors, Coutu said the 9/11 Memorial Committee should have the monument ready for a dedication ceremony five months from now, on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Committee members estimated the project’s pricetag at $138,000. After subtracting donated materials, labor and insurance costs, (if workers agree to sign waivers), the committee will need to raise “only about $25,000" to build the memorial, Coutu said.
“It’s an honor working on a project like this,” said David Cote, owner of Hudson Monument, who pledged to donate and inscribe five large granite slabs to represent the Pentagon. “It will be a very moving visual. Living history.”
Also, Coutu said landscapers have volunteered to plant a poppy field surrounding the monument, replicating the field near Shanksville, Pa., where the fourth hijacked plane crashed.
Unlike Hudson’s 9/11 firefighters memorial in tiny Hammond Park at the heavily trafficked intersection of Central Street and Lowell Road, Coutu said the purpose of the 9/11 memorial in Benson’s is “to provide a secluded, serene and thoughtful place that will commemorate not just fire and police deaths, but everyone who lost their lives on 9/11, or those who suffered as a result.”
WTC Artifacts Program managers began releasing pieces of ground-zero steel to fire departments nationwide earlier this year after the courts declared the beams are no longer evidence. Tewksbury, Acton and Nashua were among the first local communities to receive steel-beam pieces.
New York Port Authority officials imposed several restrictions on how the ground-zero artifacts may be used, including: The steel pieces may not be washed or painted and tickets may not be sold for people to see them.
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