9/11 memorial finds new home as York County fire training center nears completion

The two-ton piece of steel was supposed to be permanently affixed to a memorial outside the York County Fire Training Center when it was erected four years ago.

But on Tuesday, crews successfully reinstalled the steel beam from the World Trade Center, and the monument on which it sits, at its new permanent home outside the new fire training center, which is nearing completion.

The 14-foot steel beam from the site of the 2001 terror attacks where nearly 3,000 people died – including 343 firefighters – now sits outside the new facility on McFarland Road, on its three black granite slabs. The memorial itself is positioned on a pentagon-shaped slab of concrete.

The monument was erected at the current fire training grounds on Ogden Road in Rock Hill and unveiled on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Gaulden Monuments in Rock Hill handled the original installation in 2011, and two weeks ago began disassembling the fixture they had intended to be permanent.

“We actually were concerned about how the disassembly process would go much more than reassembly,” said Daniel Gaulden, president of Gaulden Monuments. “When we put it together the first time, we had a welder on scene. We put in pins and used a special epoxy.”

Using special tools and a crane truck, Gaulden said, they carefully disconnected the steel beam from the granite slabs and the slabs from the foundation. The process was delayed by days of rain earlier this month.

“Using the right crane and choker belts and the right leverage, it was able to come apart without damage,” he said. “We took our time, and that’s why we wanted to have some time between taking it apart and reinstalling it, in case there were any complications.”

After two hours of measuring, moving the pieces with a crane and fastening them together again, Gaulden and his co-workers finished the job by shining up the black granite with paper towels and Windex.

It’s not the first time they’ve worked with steel from the World Trade Center, Gaulden said. They constructed an eternal flame monument at Fort Bragg, N.C., the cauldron of which was built from steel salvaged from the wreckage of the twin towers.

“We really had a lot of pride for the nation and for what we’ve been through when we put it up the first time, and revisited some of those thoughts,” Gaulden said. “I’m thankful to be able to do it. It hits me just standing here, thinking about where that piece has been and what it’s seen. It’s a little bit sobering. I kind of wish the flag was up behind us.”

The flag will fly above the memorial soon. William Weatherford, director of fire safety for York County, said they plan to start moving into the new facility Jan. 1.

“For all of York County, it’s real significant, especially for all the firefighters,” he said of the memorial. “Never forget. And they won’t.”

Weatherford said the memorial is significant not just for firefighters, but police, EMS and civilians, all of whom are memorialized on the black granite.

“We’ve got some people from York County who lost people (in the attacks),” he said. “They come down to the memorial from time to time, trying to cope and having a bit of remembrance.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 5:46 PM with the headline "9/11 memorial finds new home as York County fire training center nears completion."