GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Green Bay was among municipalities throughout the United States recognizing Monday’s 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
In addition to a handful of presenters recalling and discussing the tragic events of that September 2001 morning, the city decommissioned its 9/11 memorial, which has stood at 210 Museum Place since 2005.
Green Bay’s Parks Committee recently voted in favor of having a deaccession ceremony, where a steel girder that was salvaged from the original Twin Towers in New York City was taken off the memorial.
It will be temporarily stored inside the Green Bay Police Department.
In decommissioning the memorial, city officials cite deterioration over time and inaccurate flight information being etched into the monument.
While the ceremony started and wrapped up Monday, Public Works Director Steve Grenier notes the work is far from over.
“Over the next several weeks, Department of Public Works staff will mobilize to the site and continue the process of taking down the existing memorial.”
Grenier explains how the city plans to move forward.
“There is an intent to develop a more interactive permanent display when a new public safety building is constructed. That’s probably within the next several years.”
Grenier notes that could include a touchscreen display that shares a variety of information.
“It could be everything from what happened on the day, flight information, the passenger manifest from that day, who died, up to and including how the world changed that day and how are lives now are significantly different than they were before.”
Police Chief Andrew Smith notes the importance of preserving the girder in his department’s headquarters until the new memorial is ready to open to the public.
“I’m hoping that future generations will remember the sacrifices that were made that day by the fire departments, by the police department, and by those innocent men, women, and children that were killed in this vicious attack.”
Smith notes he was in Washington D.C. on 9/11, having just graduated from the FBI academy a few days prior.
“I stood on the sidewalk, and I could see a burning building off in the distance, and it was the Pentagon. Just the anger, the sadness, the heartbreak of knowing so many people were killed in a senseless act of terrorism against our country, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Smith says it hits home thinking about the heroic actions his brothers and sisters in law enforcement made that day.
“As recently as this morning, I looked at the faces on the Police Officer Memorial page. When they look back at me, it’s just like the police officers I see in roll call every day that are out there trying to do the right thing, trying to make our city safe, and trying to make our country safe. Because of that, they ended up losing their lives and making the ultimate sacrifice.”
That’s not the only reminder Smith has of the terrorist attacks.
“To this day, I keep a framed poster in my office, every day I look at it, of all the headlines of all the newspapers around the country, the day after 9/11.”
Smith notes that flight cancellations forced him to spend a few days driving back to Los Angeles from Washington D.C.
