Renovation Work Begins On Fallen Firefighters and 9/11 Memorials

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — The first steps in a comprehensive renovation to the Connecticut Fallen Firefighters and 9/11 Memorials at the Connecticut Fire Academy were taken last week, with the removal of three large trees surrounding the monuments.

Renovations are being completed by the Connecticut State Firefighters Association – Firefighters Memorial Foundation in advance of a 20th anniversary commemoration of the 9/11 attacks on America, slated for Sept. 11, 2021.

Arborist Bill Guzie, owner of Bill's Landscaping of Enfield, donated his time, equipment and manpower to clear the area. Site work can now begin to make way for construction of a brick walkway, which will lead to a granite pentagon terrace which will surround the large vertical piece of structural steel artifact obtained from the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks.

Landscape improvements at the site will include the planting of mountain laurels, the Pennsylvania and Connecticut state shrub, around the walkway pentagon. The mountain laurels will be representative of Somerset County, Penn., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after being hijacked on 9/11.

"Moving forward to complete the 9/11 Memorial would not be possible without the financial donations and in-kind support made to us in the form of donated work like Bill Guzie's, of Bill's Landscaping," memorial committee chair Paul Walsh said. "The goal is to have all the work completed in advanced of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and the 2021 annual Connecticut fallen firefighters’ memorial ceremony, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Continued financial donations and support are needed to ensure we are able to properly honor those that paid the supreme sacrifice in service to our citizens."

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