World Trade Center steel parade to cross Wright State’s campus

This week a 12-foot-long piece of steel from the World Trade Center will make a journey from New York City to Fairborn, Ohio, where it will find a final resting place at Calamityville in a memorial to the first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On Friday, March 25, eight members of the Fairborn community will bring the steel on a flatbed trailer to Ohio, escorted from Springfield to Fairborn and through the Wright State University campus by the Ohio Patriot Guard, Ohio State Patrol and numerous first responders from local jurisdictions.

The Fairborn and Dayton communities are invited to watch the procession of this piece of history, marking this year’s 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The procession will end at Fire Station No.2 on Commerce Center Boulevard off Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, where a brief ceremony at approximately 4:30 p.m. will feature remarks from U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Ohio, City of Fairborn officials, National Center for Medical Readiness Director Mark Gebhart, M.D., and other dignitaries.

ITINERARY:

2:30 p.m.: The steel will arrive at the plaza in Fairborn on Broad Street and gather its local escort.

3:30 p.m.: The procession will depart from the plaza, travel down Broad Street past Fire Station No. 1, turn left on Main Street, right onto Central Avenue, and continue to Kauffman Avenue.

3:45 p.m.: The procession will enter the Wright State University campus from Kauffman Road at Wright State Road, travel past Mini-University along University Boulevard, and exit at Colonel Glenn Highway.

4:00 p.m.: The procession will travel east on Colonel Glenn Highway toward Fairborn; turn right onto Funderburg Road and past Fire Station No. 4; and continue onto Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, across I-675, to Commerce Center Boulevard and Fire Station No. 2.

A map is available at the City of Fairborn website at  http://ci.fairborn.oh.us/documents/Twin%20Towers%20Steel%20Route%20Map%201.pdf.

The Fairborn Area Chamber of Commerce has led the year-long effort to acquire the steel from the New York Port Authority, and the trip was made possible with local donations.

The City of Fairborn will soon commence a community-wide effort to build the permanent memorial for the steel artifact at Calamityville, the Tactical Laboratory for the National Center for Medical Readiness at 506 E. Xenia Drive.

Some members of the local delegation driving the steel from New York include:

• Fairborn Fire Battalion Chief David Reichert

• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Chief Jacob King

• Calamityville Facilities Manager Bud McCormick

• Sean Sink, City of Fairborn Fleet and Equipment Superintendent

• Fairborn City Manager Deborah McDonnell

• Fairborn Mayor Joan Dautel

• Fairborn Chamber of Commerce President-Elect Bill Richard