World Trade Center artifact headed to Mundelein

Mundelein’s proposed memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will feature an artifact from the horrific day, village officials announced Monday.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has agreed to donate a piece of damaged steel from one of the former World Trade Center buildings destroyed in the attacks. It could be up to 6 feet long, Fire Chief Timothy Sashko told the village board Monday night.

The steel will be part of a public display planned for Mundelein’s main fire station on Midlothian Road. The memorial could be erected in the lobby, or in the stairwell between the first floor and basement — a location that already features some local departmental mementos, Deputy Fire Chief Tim Leidig said.

A multimedia mural and other artistic elements also are being considered for what Leidig called “a hall of remembrance.” Plans also include a list of the names of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty across the nation, he said.

“We have a couple different ideas (for) what we’re going to do,” Leidig said.

Leidig wrote to the Port Authority in September 2009 and requested an artifact salvaged from the World Trade Center for the proposed memorial. The agency has received more than 900,000 such requests, according to a village memo.

Officials recently received word from the agency that the request has been granted.

On Monday, the village board approved an agreement between the fire department and the Port Authority that would allow the artifact to be delivered. All five trustees present supported the plan, although Trustee Terri Voss said she doesn’t want public funds used to create the memorial.

Private donations will be sought to cover any costs, officials said.

The shape and design of the memorial will depend on the object’s appearance, Leidig said.

The steel should arrive in a month or so, he said.

Officials hope to have the memorial completed by this September, in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, which saw hijacked planes crash into the two main World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.