SILVERDALE, Wash. -- The death of Osama bin Laden carries great significance in Kitsap County, where organizers are preparing to break ground on a 9/11 memorial that will feature steel beams from the World Trade Center.
The plan is to begin construction at a ceremony on September 11 of this year. The memorial will go in a currently undeveloped part of Evergreen Park in Bremerton. The goal is to complete the project by September 11, 2012.
"This is going to be an incredible memorial when we're done," said project architect Dave Fergus. "Our focus is really on the people who were there -- those who perished and those who survived."
For now, two twisted steel beams from the World Trade Center are being stored at the Central Kitsap Fire Department in Silverdale. Fire Chief Roy Lusk put in a request for the beams, which were delivered to Washington last August on a semi truck draped with an American flag.
When the memorial is complete, the beams will stand on end and, from certain angles, will resemble the Twin Towers.
"It's going to be something where the local community can come out and actually touch and feel and see a piece of history." said Division Fire Chief Randy Billick.
The memorial will also feature two pieces of stone from the Pentagon.
Other elements of the memorial will focus on stories of heroism.
"It's the story of the boss who led his workers to the stairway, went back for someone else, led them to the stairway, went back for someone else -- and that's the last they ever saw of him," Fergus said. "It's about the window washer who was stuck in the elevator and used his squeegee to open up the elevator doors, and he and six others fled the building and survived."
While much of the country is currently focused on the death of Osama bin Laden, organizers said the memorial is really about everyone but the mastermind behind 9/11.
"What we're focusing on is the people who were there and the personal accounts," Fergus said.
Final design plans are now in the works. Organizers are still working to raise money for the memorial. Donations can be made online: http://www.kitsap911memorial.org/.
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