Two spires of light to soar here as 9/11 memorial

At dusk on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, residents across the Tucson valley will be able to look up and see two pillars of light streaking toward the sky from "A" Mountain. The beams of light that will flank the red, white and blue "A" on the mountain are intended to mimic the "Tribute in Light" that occurs annually on Sept. 11 in Lower Manhattan.

It was all supposed to be a secret until Monday night. "Our original goal was to turn on the lights and not tell anyone," said Tucson developer Jim Campbell, who is coordinating the memorial along with local police and fire unions.

But knowing that "A" Mountain will have to be closed on Monday night, and wanting to explain the tribute to some who might not understand it, Campbell said he needed to reveal the plan now. The park on the mountain, also known as Sentinel Peak, will close at 4 p.m.

The lights will shine from dusk until midnight. The twin beams are intended as a solemn, subtle and apolitical memorial to the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington, D.C., and Western Pennsylvania, Campbell said.

Each of the twin beams will be made by three lights that are similar to large spotlights, but have the ability to point straight up, he said.

His development company, Oasis Tucson, is renting the lights at a cost of about $1,500 a day. Four of the lights are being brought from Phoenix and two from San Diego.

"We hope people will look towards those lights and reflect on what happened that day," said fire union president Roger Tamietti. He said the firefighters union joined the tribute because of the common bond that all firefighters have with one another: "There's a common thread that runs through all of us."

Visiting Ground Zero shortly after the attacks was one of the "most emotional things I've ever been involved with," Tamietti said. Campbell was even closer to the tragedy than that. He was in Tower Two of the World Trade Center — the second tower to be struck but the first to collapse — when it was struck.

He was in a meeting with Morgan Stanley on the 64th floor when the first tower was hit and was fleeing down the stairs when the plane hit the second tower.

After escaping down 30 flights of stairs and watching the towers collapse, he took a week to drive home to San Francisco and reflect, then promptly sold his business and house and moved to Tucson, his hometown. But he said Tucson's own "Tribute in Light" on Sentinel Peak isn't about him.

It also isn't a "pro-war or anti-war" statement, Campbell said, and shouldn't be taken as such. Instead, he said it's about what happened to us five years ago.

And if the night is clear, he said, "you should be able to see it throughout the valley."

Valley remembers Sept. 11
This weekend, communities across the region plan to observe the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Here are some of the events:

Phoenix

• Gov. Janet Napolitano and other dignitaries will dedicate the state's 9/11 memorial, "Moving Memories." A blessing begins at 6:30 a.m. Monday and the dedication ceremony begins at 9:11 a.m. at the eastern end of Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, near 15th Avenue and Washington Street. The dedication event includes victims' families, music and a flyover by the Arizona Air National Guard. Details: (602) 277-1500 or visit www.az911memorial.com.

• The Arizona Arts Chorale and Arizona Masterworks Chorale will perform "An American Requiem." Today and Monday's concerts begin at 7 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt St. Admission: $15. Details: (602) 942-0187.

• The Phoenix Bach Choir performs "Songs of Remembrance." The Monday concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Paradise Valley Community College, 18401 N. 32nd St. The Friday concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt St. Admission: $15-$25. Details: (602) 253-2224 or bachchoir.org.

• The Valley's public safety community will participate in a Sept. 11 Memorial Stair Climb at Chase Tower on Monday. The public is invited to a 7 a.m. memorial service at the tower's Southwest Plaza. The stair climb is open to public safety workers only. Details: (602) 221-4878.

• On Monday, the Heard Museum and Phoenix Art Museum will offer free admission to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, government workers, military personnel and military veterans, along with their families. The Heard Museum will be open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the Phoenix Art Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details: www .heard.org or www.phxart.org.
• The Phoenix Elks Lodge No. 335, 14424 N. 32nd St., is hosting a steak fry for firefighters in their neighborhood Stations 27 and 37, their families and guests in remembrance of 9/11. It's at 6 p.m. Monday.

Scottsdale

• The Kierland Office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, 6929 E. Greenway Parkway, will place 300 U.S. flags around the exterior of its office building.

Details: (602) 867-2000. Tempe

• A "Healing Field" of flags will rise in Tempe Beach Park this weekend. Today, a non-denominational service begins at 10 a.m. No Monday program is planned, but the flags will be on display until 9 p.m. Details: www.tempe.gov or (480) 350-8905.

Chandler

• Two 21-gun salutes will mark the day Monday at Basha High School and American Legion Mathew B. Juan Post 35. The Legion's 7 p.m. tribute will be outside the post at 2240 W. Chandler Blvd. Public parking for the high school's 7 a.m. football-field ceremony is on the northwestern side of the campus at 5990 S. Val Vista Drive.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/0910healingmemorial0910.html

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