9/11 attacks | Town Topics

PAYING TRIBUTE: Members of the public and local politicians were among those who turned out at the Township Municipal Building on Witherspoon Street last Saturday, where a steel remnant of the World Trade Center that was destroyed on 9/11 was delivered by motorcade from Brooklyn. The beam will be the centerpiece of a memorial to those area residents who perished in the attacks. (Photo by Emily Reeves)

An Emotional Motorcade From Brooklyn Brings WTC Steel to Princeton for Memorial

A chunk of steel left after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and destined for a memorial to be created in Princeton arrived in town on Saturday, March 24, escorted from Brooklyn to Witherspoon Street by a procession of motorcyclists from several states. Draped in an American flag, the steel beam remnant was delivered to the Princeton Fire Department’s Station 63 firehouse and the Township Municipal Building, where membrs of the public and local politicians attended a ceremony marking the day.

“We had about 125 motorcycles, and several fire departments, taking part along the way,” said Bob Gregory, Princeton Borough’s Director of Emergency Services. “As the apparatus left New York City, a lot of fire departments were on overpasses as they came through. Locally, we had the Princeton Fire Department, of course, and Cranbury [fire department] covered the town while the apparatus was out.”

Also participating in the motorcade was the Princeton Fire and Rescue Squad, as well as Borough and Township police and Princeton University’s Department of Public Safety. “We had both mayors and some Council and Township Committee members, [Congressman] Rush Holt, and other politicians, at the welcoming ceremony,” said Mr. Gregory. “A pretty fair showing from the town came out to support it, easily close to 200 people altogether.”

It was last fall that Princeton Fire Department Deputy Chief Roy James made a presentation to Princeton Borough Council and Township Committee about his idea to establish a memorial in Princeton to those who perished on 9/11. Mr. James wanted to install a substantial piece of steel from the World Trade Center in a spot where people can gather to remember and reflect.

Kyle Rendall, an architect with KSS Architects of Princeton and a local firefighter, has been working on the project with Mr. James since its inception. While a site for the memorial has yet to be finalized, the area in front of Borough Hall, near the Battle Monument, is under consideration.

“We did a design for pricing, but we’re currently meeting in-house with partners to get input on what the design will look like,” Mr. Rendall said. “We want to make it a holistic and comprehensive design process. We’re looking to incorporate items into the design that will make it really help represent the loss.”

Mr. Rendall said the architects are taking some design notions from museums that memorialize the Holocaust and other such themes. The memorial would include a timeline, and incorporate three zones: research and learning, remembrance and contemplation, and general observation.

The steel beam around which the memorial will be designed will be housed at the firehouse on Harrison Street until the site is completed.

Fragment of World Trade Center Steel To Be Escorted to Princeton in March

A few months ago, Princeton Fire Department Deputy Chief Roy James made presentations to Princeton Borough Council and Township Committee about his idea for the establishment of a memorial in Princeton to those who perished on 9/11. Mr. James told both governing bodies that he wants to install a substantial piece of steel from the World Trade Center in a spot where people can gather to remember and reflect.

While the exact location of that memorial has yet to be determined, Mr. James said yesterday that a nine-foot-long remnant of the fallen buildings will be brought to Princeton from storage in Brooklyn on March 24, by police escort. The steel will be housed in the firehouse on Harrison Street until a memorial is built.

“My understanding is that a state police escort will bring the steel into Princeton,” Mr. James said. “We’re trying to get in communication with the NYPD [New York Police Department]. The FDNY [Fire Department of New York] will be participating, and the Fire Family Transport Foundation, which is a non-profit that helps families of firefighters, will be assisting us as well.”

Mr. James said he is working with the Township and Borough mayors to find an appropriate location for the memorial. “They have been very receptive,” he said. Fellow Princeton firefighter Kyle Rendell, an architect with KSS Architects, assisted Mr. James with his original concepts for the project.

The steel was made available at no cost. After his presentation to Borough Council last fall, Mr. James said the finished memorial will depend on the site that is provided. “We want a site that will make that connection visible — Nassau Street, Washington Road, Alexander Road — that sort of area,” he said at the time. “But we also want to make it a place where people can have privacy to mourn. So it would be a place for open observation and for personal, intimate space. Around the perimeter of the Princeton University campus would be ideal. Another concept we had was the Valley Road School site. But it’s such an open book at this point.”

A memorial to Princetonians who died in the 9/11 attacks does exist on the Princeton University campus, where East Pyne Hall connects with Chancellor Green, just east of Nassau Hall. The outdoor space includes 13 gold stars encircling a paved walkway within a garden, displaying the names of Princeton alumni felled in the attack, and a bronze remembrance bell created by late visual arts professor Toshiko Takaezu.