Firefighters Reserve, Christchurch, New Zealand
Posted by: mundoo
S 43° 31.606 E 172° 38.570
59G E 632755 N 5179374
A Tribute to Fire Fighters. Steel from the WTC was gifted from the City of New York City to the City of Christchurch, NZ to be used as a tribute sculpture to firefighters.
Waymark Code: WM2VYH
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 12/27/2007
Views: 161
The Firefighters Reserve in Christchurch has been established in memory of those who perished in the September 11th tragedy.
The reserve features a dramatic sculpture fashioned from 5 tonnes of structural steel salvaged from the site of the World Trade Centre following their collapse on Sept 11, 2001 in terrorist attacks on New York City, New York, USA. The reserve commemorates the sacrifice of the 343 Fire Department of New York firefighters who lost their lives when the towers collapsed, as well as the sacrifices of firefighters worldwide in service of their communities. The reserve was commissioned during the opening ceremonies of the World Firefighter's Games VII (dubbed the Memorial Games) held in Christchurch 26 October to 2 November 2002.
Date of Dedication: 10/26/2002
Name of organization that built the memorial: Christchurch City Council
Private or Public Monument?: Government
Text on the memorial: A TRIBUTE TO FIREFIGHTERS
This sculpture within the Firefighters Reserve stands as a silent tribute to firefighters worldwide who risk their lives daily in the pursuit of their duty.
Firefighters are always in the front line and never more so than on September 11, 2001, when international terrorists hijacked four domestic American Jet airliners and flew two of them, along with their passengers, into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. The two towers imploded and collapsed, and among the more than 2,800 dead 343 New York firefighters. All that remained of the twin towers, and the lives lost within, was a mountainous pile of twisted steel and smoking rubble.
In May 2002, five steel girders, weighing 5.5 tons were salvaged from the site of the World Trade Center and gifted to the City of Christchurch by the City of New York for use in a public art work to honour all firefighters worldwide. The suspended component or "spear", in its red hot state, fell from the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center Tower Two, piercing the subway below.
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The sculpture stands within a dedicated reserve opposite the Central Fire Station on the banks of the Avon River, near the historic site of the former Tautahi Pa. There were important Maori cultural and spiritual issues to be considered in placing a sculpture made from a site of death near this significant life-giving
site. Consultation with representatives of the Runaka of Otautahi and Tuahuriri took place to ensure that processes and procedures were enacted to appropriately acknowledge and address the cultural considerations.
The opening of the reserve and unveiling of the sculpture on October 26, marked the beginning or the 2002 Seventh World Firefighters Games in Christchurch.
This Sculpture 'Tribute to Firefighters' was created by Christchurch artist Graham Bennett. A work of stark simplicity, the composition was derived from observations of firefighting
skills, notions of overhead dangers and recovery.
Physical address of memorial: Oxford Tce between Madras St & Kilmore St. Christchurch, New Zealand
Additional coordinates: Not Listed
Website for more information: Not listed
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Visit Instructions: A picture of yourself (or your GPS if you are alone and cannot get someone to take your picture) at the memorial. Logs without pictures should be deleted by the waymark owner.
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