SRT, SPEDA looking for donations for 9/11 memorial

Jun. 30—For years the chunk of metal — an I-beam similar to those that hold up any commercial building — sat outside of the headquarters for the Somerset-Pulaski County Special Response Team. While its presence may have been unassuming, its significance reached far beyond its intended use.

That beam came from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, and it was put on display here in Pulaski County for the public to visit. It was the centerpiece of the 9/11 ceremonies held each year at the SRT building to memorialize those who died on that fateful day in 2001.

But after a fire claimed the SRT building in April 2021, the plans to rebuild the SRT headquarters included a spot to create a larger memorial in which to display that piece of history.

Since then, the beam has been stored while the new SRT building is constructed.

The new building was built at the site of the old one, on Stigall Drive.

SRT and the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority (SPEDA) have teamed up to try to raise money to create a newly-designed 9/11 memorial.

"We're probably halfway to our goal. We knew it was going to take some time," said SRT Chief Doug Baker.

The plan is to have two black granite columns — 11 feet tall — to represent the twin towers. The I-beam would span between them.

Plans also include the addition of a flagpole and areas of grass, with part of the sod coming from Washington, D.C., where the Pentagon is based, and part of the sod coming from Shanksville, Pa.

Along with the World Trade Center towers, each of which was hit by a terrorist-flown commercial airplane, the Pentagon was struck with a plane as well. A fourth plane that was intended to be used in the attack crashed in Pennsylvania, brought down due to passengers who had heard of the other plane attacks attempting to prevent their hijackers from reaching their target.

Plans for the new memorial are still in place, but because of the delay in collecting enough funds, Baker said he made the decision to put the beam back out where the public can access it for now.

"We were hoping to have enough to be able to go ahead and fix some of the memorial the way the rendering shows, but since it's taking a little longer than we thought, we're going to go ahead and put it up this weekend on a temporary basis."

The piece of steel technically belongs to the Port Authority of New York. Baker has said in the past that his department is allowed access to it as long as it is allowed to be accessed by the public.

In putting it back out this weekend, Baker said the steel will be located around 10 feet away from where it stood before.

"We poured a new foundation for it," he said.

"We have our September 11 service coming up, that we have every year. I know there is no way we can get this memorial done — even if we had the money — to the specifications we'd like to see by then, so we decided to go ahead and put it back up," he added.

A SPEDA release put out this week calls for local individuals and businesses to become sponsors for the memorial. The title sponsorship has already gone to First & Farmers National Bank, but smaller sponsorships for $1,000 (Gold), $500 (Silver) and $250 (Bronze) are still available.

Baker, however, wants the public to know that any amount of donation will be appreciated, even if it's only $5 or $10.

"Even from individuals, it doesn't have to be corporations," Baker said. If they need more information they can contact SPEDA or myself. ... We need funding, so if anyone can help in any way they can, we would be eternally grateful for it."

For more information, contact SPEDA at 606-425-5409 or visit their website at somersetykyleads.com.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com