9/11 Memorial Glade Dedicated as New Area of World Trade Center Site

A brand-new section of the Sept. 11 memorial at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan was unveiled last week, this one honoring recovery workers who died after searching through the rubble searching for survivors.

By: Carol Horshprung

Called the 9/11 Memorial Glade, it is a grassy clearing on the southwest corner of the 8-acre (3-hectare) plaza includes a path flanked with six huge, sloping stone structures made of granite slabs inlaid with steel recovered from the fallen trade center towers.

The Glade design was developed by the Memorial’s original architects, Michael Arad and Peter Walker, with the thoughtful support of 9/11 Memorial & Museum board member Jon Stewart, 9/11-health advocates and providers, 9/11 family members, first responders and lower Manhattan residents, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

The memorial’s design includes a pathway flanked by six large stone monoliths, ranging from 13 to 18 tons, that are inlaid with World Trade Center steel accompanied by an inscription at either end of the pathway.

The Glade’s inscription, according to the group, encapsulates its purpose:
“This Memorial Glade is dedicated
To those whose actions in our time of need
Led to their injury, sickness, and death
Responders and recovery workers
Survivors and community members
Suffering long after September 11, 2001
From exposure to hazards and toxins
That hung heavy in the air
Here and beyond this site known as Ground Zero
And at the Pentagon
And near Shanksville, Pennsylvania
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
Here we honor the tens of thousands
From across America and around the world
Who came to help and to heal
Whose selflessness and resolve
Perseverance and courage
Renewed the spirit of a grieving city
Gave hope to the nation
And inspired the world.

The area’s six stone monoliths were installed on Saturday, April 6. This process required a 600-ton crane and an assist crane. Each monolith was lifted over the 30 to 35-foot-tall Swamp White Oak trees on the Memorial plaza and rigged inside the Glade construction site, the group said.

“The monoliths, which were shaped by two craftsmen in Barre, Vt., were driven six hours south on flatbed trucks through the Green Mountains and the rolling hills of New England to be placed on the site. Along the way, they were escorted by a team of eight personnel from the Vermont Division of Fire Safety. As the team assisted the trucks on their way to New York City, local first responders in communities along the way saluted the monoliths on the highway overpasses to recognize the importance and national significance of this project.”

When they arrived in lower Manhattan, the organization says, they met “a scene of workers waiting to guide them safely into their permanent home. As the focal point of the 9/11 Memorial Glade, the monoliths’ rough edges and large size were created to honor the challenges faced by those whom the Glade memorializes.”