Southampton FD To Remember 9/11
On Sunday, Sept. 11, Southampton will observe the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with a commemorative event at the Southampton Fire Department’s new Hampton Road substation beginning at 11 a.m. The event will unveil a new 9/11 memorial made from actual steel from the Twin Towers.
The event will include the dedication of the firehouse’s 9/11 memorial, constructed of steel from the World Trade Center, and conclude with the raising of a flag that was flown over the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Representatives from village, town, county, state and federal governments and first responder units from throughout Southampton will be in attendance, and the entire community is invited as well.
The Memorial is built and designed by Jason Thomas Poremba, an architect that is local to Southampton who is also a local volunteer fireman.
“I had gotten the steel about 8 or 9 years ago, and there really wasn’t any steel available. But the firm that I was working with was friendly with Rudy Giuliani and they were able to contact him and explain to him that I was looking to do a memorial. The next day I went into the city with a tow truck and was able to get it. It was pretty outrageous.” Jason Thomas said.
“The piece of steel comes from a column section, it’s pretty amazing. We don’t know which tower it is from but I know from research that it comes from one of the towers.”
All of the money needed to build this memorial was provided by local donations from the community.
Conceptually the project is based on a long axis or line. All the key symbolic elements are tied together along that axis ( Flag (patriotism), Red Box (solidarity brotherhood of the fire service, World Trade Steel (memorial), Water + Mirror (tears, reflection). All these elements are then tied together by the human hand with bricks. The amount of bricks used in the design are equal to the number of lives lost.
“I’m really excited for the dedication,” Poremba said, “People really realize the significance to this.”
The column of the memorial sits up high and is surrounded by black granite which appears to float up in the air. The column from the World Trade Center is actually hollow, and water flows up through it, making it very dramatic.
I highly recommend that you take your family to this memorial ceremony.
Hampton Road from David White’s Lane to County Road 39 will be closed from 9 a.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m. and detour signs will be posted. Designated parking areas will be established close to the firehouse and shuttle buses will be provided to and from the event.