SEQUIM — A permanent memorial to those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is in the works for the new Civic Center Plaza, currently under construction at the northwest corner of Cedar Street and Sequim Avenue.
The plaza is expected to be completed in time for a dedication ceremony June 13.
The memorial will include a bronze plaque and a piece of the destroyed World Trade Center buildings.
The artifact is a flat steel shard from a box beam that once stood in the Twin Towers plaza area.
“This whole process started [about] six years ago when the city applied for an artifact from the World Trade Center stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks there [in New York City],” Police Chief Bill Dickinson told the City Council earlier this week.
“We were able to get a lot of community support and donations that made it possible for myself and a couple of officers [in the summer of 2011] to travel on our time in a personal vehicle to New York to pick that up and bring it back.”
Awaiting a location
The shard has been in storage for the past several years “waiting for us to get to this point in our lives where we actually have a place to put it,” Dickinson said.
Integrus Architect, in early 2012, created a monument design for the Civic Center Plaza that was reviewed by a committee earlier this year that recommended the council approve the plan.
The council then approved the plan — with minor style changes and the addition of the date “September 11, 2001” — during its meeting Tuesday.
“It just says that we remember that [the] attack occurred, and we don’t want people to forget about it,” Dickinson said.
The cost of commissioning the bronze plaque is about $1,700, with $1,500 already raised through donations that were given for the purposes of artifact acquisition and display.
The rest of the money will be gathered either through additional community donations or siphoned from the budget to build the new Civic Center, Dickinson said.
The monument will be the second on the North Olympic Peninsula to feature a 9/11 remnant from the World Trade Center.
A portion of an I-beam is the focus of a monument where Francis Street overlooks Port Angeles Harbor. It was dedicated Sept. 11, 2012.
Other business
In other business Tuesday, the council adopted a resolution establishing regulations for artists and performers who want to set up booths or perform in the new Civic Center Plaza.
The regulations were proposed by the City Arts Advisory Commission based on a citizen survey completed in 2011 identifying the need for community special events, art and theater programs, music programs, youth art, dance and performing arts programs.
Additionally, a downtown plan adopted in 2011 indicated that the Civic Center could help energize nearby businesses by providing activities to reinforce the downtown core as the civic and social heart of the community, it said.
The plan identified the new plaza as the space for potential public events throughout the year.
The resolution establishes an application process for anyone interested in performing in the plaza.
Performers would be selected by a subcommittee of the City Arts Advisory Commission through the application process.
Selected performers would then be required to sign a contract providing conditions including insurance, liability and safety.
Performers would not receive compensation from the city but would be provided opportunities to sell promotional materials.
Events could be scheduled to coincide with First Friday, Saturdays for the Sequim Farmers Market or at other times to be determined.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
