Garden of Reflection Clears Major Hurdles

05/11/2005
Garden of Reflection clears major hurdle; project ready to go out for bid
By: JEFF WERNER

Plans for a Bucks County 9-11 memorial cleared a major hurdle last week when the Lower Makefield Board of Supervisors gave their blessing to the memorial's final design and authorized placing the memorial project out for bid.

The memorial, also known as the Garden of Reflection, will celebrate the lives of the 3,000 people who were killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and particularly the 17 who had ties to Bucks County. It will be built at Memorial Park on Woodside Road. A thunderous round of applause greeted the unanimous vote cast by the five-member board of supervisors. The vote followed a presentation by Yardley-based architect Liuba Lashchyk on the memorial's latest design."This will be a place of reflection, not only for those that we lost, but for the future," said supervisor Grace Godshalk, whose own son, William, was killed at the World Trade Center.Godshalk, choked with emotion, noted that her son would have turned 39 last Wednesday, just two days after the vote. Ironically, she said, it had also been 39 months since the group of local survivors met at the future memorial site and began their quest to build the garden memorial.Ellen Saracini, whose husband, Victor, piloted one of the ill-fated planes, expressed relief and exuberance following the decision."Yes!" she exclaimed. "All the other steps have been baby steps. We're on a different level now. It's like we've reached the top. It's going to happen.""Today, for the first time, I can see passed everything," added Clara Chirchirillo, who lost her husband in the terrorist attacks. "I am so thrilled," she said. "It's not a dream anymore."Saracini said she felt like a weight had been lifted."We've been really feeling it hard and it's been building up," said Saracini. "Now I feel so much lighter, so much better. We're definitely going to start construction. It's going to be good. That's a reason to celebrate."According to Lashchyk, the memorial will feature a series of concentric circles, representing eternity, all leading visitors on a spiral journey through life and continuing into an inner circle where a twin fountain, representing the towers of the World Trade Center, will represent healing and rebirth."The memorial itself has been created as a memorial journey," said Lashchyk.Upon entering the memorial, visitors will pass by a fragment of the World Trade Center, which gives a sense of authenticity to the journey. They will then pass through a gateway opening into the open space of the garden. As they continue around the path they will pass a continuous stainless steel rail holding glass panels containing the names of 3,000 souls. "As we pass that we can sense the magnitude of the event," said Lashchyk.Arriving at the center, or the core of the memorial, visitors will find a circle of water with twin fountains shooting skyward. Embracing the circular core will be a semi-circular rail with glass panels listing the names of the 17 Bucks County souls taken on September 11th."We're trying to create not just a historical reminder of what happen, but a place of hope -- one that combines the need to reflect on the loss of life but also on the need to have hope for the future," said Lashchyk.The outer most concentric ring will be made up of 17 shade trees, one for each of the souls from Bucks County lost in the attack. "The trees symbolize rebirth and provide hope," said Lashchyk.The memorial will be paid for entirely through private contributions, donations and governmental grants raised and obtained by the Garden of Reflection Committee. Lower Makefield Township is donating $1 million toward the project for the installation of a service road and to bring utilities onto the site.Bids for the construction of the memorial are expected to be awarded sometime this summer with construction to begin soon after. Completion could happen as early as next spring.Saracini said her committee is currently searching for general contractors who may be interested in donating their services toward the project. "It would be really nice if we could get a general contractor who was gung-ho and really wanted to see it through," she said.To assist in the realization of the Garden of Reflection, tax-deductible contributions may be sent to: 9-11 Memorial Construction Fund, 1100 Edgewood Road, Yardley 19067. For information, visit www.9-11memorialgarden.org.***Serving on the Garden of Reflection Committee are Ellen Saracini, Tara Bane, Grace Godshalk, Clara Chirchirillo, William H. Kelly, Sr., Jim McCaffrey (owner of McCaffrey's Market), Eric Stark (Lower Bucks YMCA) and Joe Amodei (Special Events coordinator).###