9/11 Memorial Soon to be a Reality

Loma Linda may soon have a 9/11 Memorial thanks to a $75,000 appropriation made by the city toward the project.

The city approved the funds during the Jan. 24 council meeting. The money will come from the Art in Public Places fund, which is designed to fund projects like the memorial, according to a staff report.

“I know a lot of the services are being donated by the contractors,” said Loma Linda Fire Division Chief Jeff Roddy.

The centerpiece of the memorial will be a 1,000-plus pound piece of a steel beam that once supported one of the World Trade Center Towers. It is roughly 6-feet long and was rust colored and worn.

It was delivered to Loma Linda just days before the Sept. 2011 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The Loma Linda Firefighter’s Association worked for two weeks to get the piece.

“We had begun the process to put together a temporary site inside our museum but its moving along so fast, were not even going to spend money on that,”  Roddy said.

Instead it will remain on a mobile trailer that carried it through last year’s annual community parade route, Roddy said.

The estimated total cost of the project is $263,411. Organizers with the firefighters association had already raised $188,000, according to a city staff report. The contractor, Tilden Coil Constructors, has donated some of their services, leaving a balance of $75,000. That will be paid with the funds the city has provided.

Councilmembers also approved the design plans. Project managers plan to put the memorial on the spot between the main fire station’s driveway and a parking lot.