The City of Palos Heights granted approval Tuesday for the installation of a memorial commemorating first responders who died in the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The monument will be installed during a ceremony at the City Hall adjacent to the existing memorial on September 11, 2026, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
The City Council voted unanimously to approve the memorial, for which the city will pay $6,402 to Czarnik Memorials Inc.
While the existing memorial pays homage to all the victims of the attacks and is designed to symbolize the two World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon in between them, the new monument will specifically honor police and fire fighters who died responding to the tragedy.
“It’s meant to honor the first responders who died rushing into the buildings that day,” said Alderman Jack Clifford, who spearheaded the memorial effort. “Outside the people who were in the buildings, the police and fire were the main group who was lost.”
Clifford personally worked on the design of the memorial, which will consist of a polished granite slab and will feature images of a police hat and fire fighter’s helmet as well as three firefighters standing under an American flag.
Between the two images, the monument will read “In remembrance and unity, 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. We honor the lives lost, the heroes who gave all, and the strength that carried us forward. Though years have passed, we will never forget.”
According to Clifford the sculpture will stand about three-and-a-half feet tall and sit on a base that is about 14 inches wide and eight inches deep. It will stand at an angle to the second tower of the existing memorial, and is designed to blend with it.
Clifford noted that the recognition will be part of “very patriotic year,” in which the country is also commemorating its 250th anniversary.