Sept. 11 memorial coming to Aurora

A traveling Sept. 11 memorial will visit Aurora this year, giving visitors a chance to pay tribute to those who died in the attacks as well as those involved in rescue efforts.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum's exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 13 and 14 at the Aurora Transportation Center, 233 N. Broadway.

The tour begins Sept. 10 in Columbia, S.C., and will stop in at least 15 towns this fall. The mobile display is part of an outreach effort to raise awareness of and funds for building a permanent tribute at ground zero in New York.

"Some people may never get a chance to come to New York, so we want to bring the memorial to them," said Lynn Rasic, spokesman for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.

Aurora is the tour's only Illinois stop.

Organizers say they wanted their grassroots campaign to first target medium-sized towns like Cincinnati, Des Moines and Omaha before taking it to larger cities.

Exhibit admission is free, though donations will be accepted.

The display includes photos, artifacts, a short film and designs of the permanent memorial. Visitors will relive the Sept. 11 attacks from the viewpoint of survivors, the victims' families and emergency personnel.

Guests also can sign a 37-foot-long steel beam that will be part of the national tribute. Work on that is under way.

The permanent memorial includes two reflecting pools on the footprints of the Twin Towers, with 30-foot-tall waterfalls flowing into them.

Inscribed around the pools will be the names of all those who died on Sept. 11, as well as in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The memorial also includes a below-ground museum to open in 2010. The pools should be done in late 2009.

So far, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum organization has raised about $300 million of its $350 million goal.

For more information, visit www.national911memorial.org.