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The West Hempstead Community Support Association announced last week that a contractor has been chosen by the county to create the hamlet’s Sept. 11 memorial. The monument, which will be made of granite and include a piece of World Trade Center steel, will be unveiled in a public ceremony on June 5, 2016, in Hall’s Pond Park.
“Since it is going on county property, the contractor had to be approved by the county,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the WHCSA. The county selected Picture This on Granite to do the job after reviewing four proposals and considering a half dozen other companies.
“ABS Carting will be donating and installing the base,” said Norton, who added that County Legislators Vincent Muscarella and Laura Schafer aided the effort by procuring community revitalization project money. Anthony Ferrantello, of ABF Development, will donate the memorial’s foundation, Norton added.
The cost of the memorial is approximately $65,000.
The WHCSA is currently putting together a committee of community members to plan the dedication ceremony, and raising funds to cover the memorial’s maintenance.
An artist’s rendering shows two large pieces of granite on either side of a centered block of granite, which will hold the steel from the World Trade Center. The names of the 12 West Hempstead residents who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks will be etched into the two side pieces, six on each side. They will be affixed to a five foot- by-six foot base, which will contain 2,996 squares representing the people who perished that day.
“It would’ve taken us years, but with the help of the community, we’ll be able to put together a dedication ceremony next year,” said Norton.
The memorial will be erected at the entrance to the park, on Hempstead Avenue, which now has a Welcome to West Hempstead sign and a smaller sign that says “Future site of the 9/11 Memorial.”
