The steel beam from the remains of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, along with several photos taken during the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, will be unveiled during the township’s memorial ceremony on Friday, September 10.
The ceremony, which marks the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, will take place at 7 p.m. at the township’s Ron Rogers Arboretum at the corner of Clarksville and Princeton-Hightstown roads.
Last year Councilman George Borek reported that he was trying to obtain a steel beam from the Jersey City Fire Department, where he works, as a donation to the township’s memorial. The eight-ton fragment was obtained earlier this year.
Borek was involved in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero. Because six West Windsor residents died in the attacks, Borek said he wanted to get a piece of the World Trade Center to bring to the township.
Eventually, he was able to take half of a 14-foot-long, 16,000-pound beam, which he and his colleagues torched to cut in half so that he could transport it to West Windsor. Once it was cut, the West Windsor Department of Public Works supplied a heavy duty trailer to take to Jersey City. Crews hoisted the beam using heavy machinery into the trailer, and transported it back to West Windsor for placement at the Arboretum.
Along with the steel beam are the photographs from photographer Danny Sze, a West Windsor resident. His photo collection of Ground Zero, called “Image of Courage,” has been exhibited in galleries, libraries, hotels, firehouses, and universities around the nation, and in China. Different photos from the collection, now owned by the township, will be exhibited every year at the township’s 9/11 ceremony.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he is optimistic about getting future donations from businesses and individual donors that will be used to erect the steel beam with a base foundation in time for the 10th anniversary in 2011.
“These additions to our memorial site will not just be about the horror of 9/11 and the heartbreak of what happened on that day, but also a remembrance of how the nation and the world came together to support one another,” Hsueh said in a statement. “The donations themselves are also a testament of that spirit, and I hope they will serve as an inspiration to others.”
