9-11 Memorial Walk
The 9-11 Memorial Walk is a block-long greenway in downtown Birmingham linking three public art projects as a memorial to the events of September 11, 2001. The three pieces are the:
- "Liberty Garden," created by Keep Birmingham Beautiful, with twin granite towers and a floral U. S. flag.
- "Children's Hero Bench", designed in collaboration with area children, who created ceramic tile designs. The process was led by architect Dick Pigford.
- "The Ribbon" bench sculpture designed by Keith Bidwell and constructed by B. L. Harbert Construction.
The 9-11 Memorial Walk is located along 19th Street North between 3rd Avenue North and 4th Avenue North. It was dedicated on September 11, 2002. The project received a "Keep America Beautiful" Beautification and Community Improvement Award.
Bidwell's "The Ribbon" sculpture was originally designed to hold shadowboxes that would be filled with donated mementos. Funding for the shadowboxes ran out. In 2010, some of the donors requested their donations be returned. Donated items included a Purple Heart, firefighter badges, a Navy submariner's dolphin pin, and a tiara from the reigning Miss Alabama at the time.
References
- MacDonald, Ginny (April 13, 2010) "Funding for 9/11 memorial in Birmingham unravels; donors want their memorabilia back." Birmingham News
External links
- The 9-11 Memorial Walk Project at bhamlions.org
- 9-11 Memorial Walk at capisdowntown.com