Traveling museum brings 9/11 history to Rosemont

A traveling museum of artifacts from New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, was packed with visitors who came to learn about the events of that fateful day, shortly after opening Friday in Rosemont.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s 9/11 NEVER FORGET mobile exhibit features an 83-foot tractor-trailer in which artifacts and exhibit pieces are displayed. Among the items featured as part of the 1,100-square-foot interactive exhibit are World Trade Center steel beams, aluminum facade, pieces of the marble lobby floor, items recovered from the rubble after the towers collapsed, recordings of dispatch radio transmissions, videos, and tributes to first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Guided tours were given by some of the firefighters who responded to ground zero on Sept. 11, including Michael Barbarino, who serves as an ambassador to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. He said Sept. 11 was “our generation's Pearl Harbor.”

“I was there that day. I saw the destruction,” Barbarino said. “I saw the tremendous bravery, and we hope it never happens again on American soil.”

The exhibit is open for free public viewing in the Parkway Bank Park entertainment district and open from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.