A monument using stainless steel was dedicated at a ceremony held on Friday, 6 September, at US Steel’s Minnesota Ore Operations (Minntac) plant. Employees of Minntac unveiled a memorial constructed in honour of the victims of last year’s terrorist attacks. The memorial includes actual steel recovered from Ground Zero in New York City. The monument is located at the plant’s entrance. The monument consists of four 18-foot-tall stainless steel towers and two pentagon-shaped structures that stand atop a six-sided wooden base, which has “September 11, 2001” inscribed on each side. The monument has a 360-degree design, allowing the “twin towers” and “pentagon” to be viewed from all sides. Debris, made of scrap steel, concrete and specular hematite—a glass-like mineral—is scattered across the base to represent the wreckage in New York City, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, Pa. The debris field contains lights that highlight the memorial, and lights inside the towers shine up toward the sky. A 30-foot-tall flagpole flying the American flag rises from the middle of the four towers, and a solid, 4500-pound concrete base secures the monument in place. Serving as a tangible link between the monument and the events of September 11 are the two pieces of structural steel procured from the salvage operations at the World Trade Center site. Anthony Yeley, a buyer in the Purchasing Department, worked with the Emergency Management Office in New York City to obtain the pieces for the project. This steel supports the dedication plaque and surrounds the monument’s towers.
