AUSTINTOWN Resident seeks OK for 9/11 memorial

Pat Connolly Sr. says private donations would pay for the memorial.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A township resident is working to obtain a piece of the World Trade Center towers to use in a proposed Sept. 11 memorial in Wickliffe Circle.
Pat Connolly Sr. of Elmwood Avenue said a museum in Albany, N.Y., has expressed an interest in supplying him with a 12-by-14-inch piece of the trade center if he can get township trustees' approval for the memorial. He is expected to ask trustees Monday.
"It's going to be a beautiful thing," Connolly said of the memorial, which would be in the eastern portion of South Wickliffe Circle, near the RB Fabricators building and across the street from Fire Station No. 2.
The piece of the tower would be in a case on a pedestal and would serve as the memorial's center, said Connolly, who also is the owner of Connolly's Garden Center on Mahoning Avenue. He said he hopes to have the tower piece lighted by a natural gas "eternal flame."
A gazebo also would be built as part of the memorial, Connolly added.
South Wickliffe Circle is the site of a gazebo, several park benches and two veterans' memorials.
Discussed at meeting
Connolly discussed the Sept. 11 memorial proposal Thursday night at a meeting of the Austintown Citizens Advisory Board. About 30 people attended the meeting at township hall.
Trustee Lisa Oles said it would be appropriate for the memorial to be built across from the fire station since it would help serve as a reminder of the firefighters who died Sept. 11, 2001.
Trustee Bo Pritchard said he wouldn't object to the memorial as long as it didn't detract from the veterans' displays.
Connolly noted that he would use donations, and not township funds, to build the memorial. He said he hopes the museum will donate the piece of the tower. He estimated that the gazebo construction cost would be about $24,000.
"I think I could generate that money. I know I could generate it," Connolly said. "We're going to get it done."
When asked why he wanted to build the memorial, he responded, "Why not? We're part of this country."
He had to pause to collect himself while discussing the memorial, and his voice cracked when he said Sept. 11.
Connolly noted that he has been working on the memorial proposal for about four months. He traveled to New York City to try and get a piece of the trade center towers before he was directed to the Albany museum.
He said the museum director told him the section of the towers had been part of a larger piece that was cut down so it could be shipped to a museum in Nairobi, Africa.
Choosing a location
Connolly added that he wanted the memorial to be in Wickliffe Circle because it was the center of the township.
Gene Benyo, a Fairview Road resident, said, however, the center of the township has yet to be identified. He noted that the Austintown Growth Foundation has been trying to locate a township center as they have worked to create Austintown 20/20, a plan for the community's future.
Benyo also said that he felt a better site for the memorial might be near where the new middle school is set to be built on Wickliffe Circle.
He expressed concern that if the memorial was built in Wickliffe Circle, it would be overshadowed by the dilapidated Schiavone's Market, which is on the north side of Mahoning Avenue just east of the circle.
Schiavone's is often cited as an eyesore by township residents and officials.
Lisa Liposchak of Rutland Avenue said she felt a better site for the Sept. 11 memorial might be the current location of Austintown Middle School on Mahoning Avenue. The citizens advisory board has discussed working to have a senior citizens' center built on the middle school land once the new school is constructed on South Raccoon Road.
hill@vindy.com