Leadership Redondo to develop 9/11 Memorial project

By Sascha Bush
The Beach Reporter
August 16, 2007

In what's been described as both an honor and an awesome responsibility, the 2007 Leadership Redondo class has elected to develop the city's 9/11 memorial as its community project.

Members of the Leadership Redondo class, which includes both public officials and private citizens, adopted the plan during their June session, and although the project is still in its earliest phases, many class members are already honored by the task they have undertaken.

“Not a second thought was given to any other project,” said class member and Redondo Beach Police Capt. Tom Krafick.

The city had commemorated the receipt of the 300-pound artifact back in February, and at the time had collected a few thousand dollars to put toward the design of a permanent monument. Since then, little headway has been made until the Leadership Redondo class assumed the challenge of translating the artifact into an appropriate and meaningful display.

Heading up the group's endeavors is Krafick, who had been assigned the role of project manager. At present, each of the class members is assigned to a variety of subcommittees to consider site selection, design, fund-raising efforts and donation collection.

Step one, Krafick said, was “more or less looking for a home for it.” Currently, the artifact has a temporary home at the Redondo Beach Fire Department Station One, but finding a suitable location for the memorial is key, he went on.

“It is important to us and the New York Fire Department that the memorial be something that the public can go up to, interact with, that they could touch.”

Several sites are being considered, from the intersection of Harbor Drive and Pacific, to Aviation Park, Dominguez Park or even on the grounds of RBFD Station One on South Broadway. The group hadn't yet decided if “either an urban, or a more bucolic, landscaped area” would be the best choice for the memorial. “The location must be regional enough, accessible enough that everybody can come visit,” stated class member Mike Witzansky, director of Recreation and Community Services for the city.

The artifact, which was recovered from the site of the collapsed World Trade Center, bears a special significance for the city. Whereas other cities have erected memorials from pieces of the twin towers obtained from salvage yards, Redondo Beach's artifact was a gift born of a fast friendship between former Fire Association President and RBFD veteran Bob Franck and retired New York firefighter Bob Senn. Both played an integral part in the city's acquisition of this tangible piece of history.

By taking on the development of the memorial, Leadership Redondo hopes to honor the deeply felt sentiments attached to both the artifact, and the unfortunate events that created it. “It is important to us to pay tribute to the civilians, the airline employees, government employees, firefighters and police officers who lost their lives that day,” said Krafick.

According to the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, which heads up the program, the goal of Leadership Redondo is “to develop effective community leaders who will strengthen and transform our community.” Each year Leadership Redondo, which began in 2000, adopts a project that will have an impact on the surrounding community. While past projects have included the Path of History from 2002, and last year's Picture Redondo, “no class has ever tackled something with this much significance” stated Witzansky. The class intends to have completed the 9/11 memorial by this time next year, he added, “(but) a project like this just takes time. Everybody reflects differently.”