Twin Towers' Steel to Highlight Hopatcong's 9/11 Monument

Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, pieces of the Twin Towers will live in Hopatcong.

The borough plans to unveil a monument dedicated to the thousands killed in the attacks in a ceremony on Sept. 11. The monument—a pentagon-shaped marble slab—will stand on the River Styx Road-Hopatchung Road intersection in front of at the yet-to-be created Firemen's Park, which will be dedicated to the borough's fire department.

Click here for a video of Petillo discussing the Firemen's Park plan.

The monument will have several decorations. The main attraction will be two steel beams—one 9 feet tall, another 11 feet—from the Twin Towers bookending the marble slab. A warped hunk of Twin Towers metal will sit atop the monument, along with five pavers detailing important moments from the tragedy.

"It will be wonderful," Mayor Sylvia Petillo said Wednesday night.

The monument was originally planned to stand in . But after much consideration, Petillo said, she decided Maxim Glen shouldn't be considered a memorial park. And she said a 9/11 monument next to a firemen's memorial made sense considering the fire department's role in responding to the attacks.

Petillo said the monument will be mostly funded through donations and federal grant money.

Petillo said the idea for the steel beams came from Department of Public Works Superintendent Ron Jobeless, who saw another town with them on TV. Petillo said it took about six months to arrange the donation. The beams will be delievered via police escort from the Port Authority to the borough, Petillo said.

Former Hopatcong resident Anthony Cirri

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