Austintown trustees announce 9/11 Memorial Gazebo

People can buy bricks on which they can inscribe the name of a family member.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The first phase of a project to remember those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will be completed next week.
At their meeting Monday, trustees heard from Pat Connolly, chairman of the Austintown Beautification Committee, who announced the groundbreaking for a 9/11 Memorial Gazebo to be built in Trustees Park on Raccoon Road.
For about 18 months, the committee has been raising money for a memorial to remember and honor those who were killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Somerset County, Pa.
Groundbreaking will begin at 10 a.m. July 6 at the park.
The gazebo will be about 22 feet in diameter and will have bricks people can buy that will form the sidewalks, explained Paul Cubellis, the committee's co-chairman. Lining the walkways will be about 10 benches as well as various flower and rose gardens, he said.
For $40, people can buy a paver brick and have inscribed on it the names of family members and other loved ones.
Meaningful tokens
The 24-member committee also has a 12-by-14-inch piece of the World Trade Center, four 250-pound limestone blocks from the Pentagon, and a sample of dirt taken from close to where United Flight 93 crashed outside Shanksville, Pa. Those items also will be on display, Cubellis added.
A long-term goal for the committee is to build a granite wall in Trustees Park that would have all the victims' names inscribed, Cubellis said. They also hope to add three stones, one of which would look like the World Trade Center.
Each 4-by-8-inch brick can include up to three lines of inscription with a maximum of 14 letters per line. So far, about 500 bricks have been sold, with room for about 30,000, Connolly said.
Those interested in buying a brick should make a check payable to the Austintown Beautification Committee. Checks can be sent to Connolly at 3819 Elmwood Ave., Austintown OH 44515, or Cubellis at 4986 E. Radio Road, Austintown. Contributions also can be made at Sky Bank, 6010 Mahoning Ave.
For more information about the committee or 9/11 project, call Cubellis at 792-1961 or Connolly at 799-0565.
Other business
In other business, trustees received four bids for a sidewalk project on Burkey Road, the second phase of an improvement project started last year.
Companies and bid amounts were:
UThomas Pallota & amp; Sons of Youngstown, $69,192
U Foust Construction Inc. of Girard, $55,463
UUSA Concrete Specialists of Columbiana, $71,237
U Perella Dinunzio Inc., $103,389.
Trustees plan to seek the opinion of the Mahoning County prosecutor's office before the project is started, Trustee Lisa Oles noted.