The city announced the members of the Hoboken September 11th Memorial Fund Committee at a reception Tuesday night. The 15-member panel will over see the fundraising and selection of a “life-affirming” memorial for Pier A Park to honor the lives lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The committee hopes to have decided on a memorial design within a year and a half. They expect to raise between $250,000 and $500,000 for the project.
The members of the committee will ultimately cast the deciding vote on the final proposal based on review and feedback from the Hoboken community.
The committee is modeled in part after the Memorial Process Team of New York New Visions, a coalition of architecture, planning, and design organizations that came together immediately following September 11 in a pro-bono effort to address the issues surrounding the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan.
The members of Hoboken’s committee are: Mayor David Roberts, fund chairman; Hon. Richard Del Boccio, 2nd Ward Councilman; Suzanne Hetman, special assistant to Mayor Roberts; Michael Estevez, city director of public affairs; Cassandra Wilday, director of environmental services; Geraldine Fallo, Hoboken cultural affairs; Robert Foster, director, Hoboken Historical Museum; Lisa Frigand; Sandy O’Connor; Michael Rohner; Thomas Rohner; Joseph Borzotta; Nelson Chanfrau; and Phil and Eleanor Salinardi. Lisa Frigand is also a member of New York New Visions’ Memorial Process Team. The Memorial Process Team is charged with conceptualizing an appropriate memorial in response to September 11 in lower Manhattan.
“In the face of the horrible tragedy that occurred on September 11, the Hoboken community has united in an extraordinary way,” said Mayor Roberts. “It is my hope that this memorial will not only honor those Hoboken residents who lost their lives that day, but will be a life-affirming and uplifting symbol for all who see it.”
The fund committee will oversee the process of raising funds; soliciting and reviewing artistic proposals; soliciting, collecting, and organizing public comment and feedback, and casting the final vote for a memorial to be built on the Hoboken waterfront. The memorial selection process is expected to take approximately 18 months.
The fund committee was formed in early December 2001 and has held two meetings. The fund committee is chaired by Mayor Roberts and consists of 15 members. The committee is made up of family members of people who lost their lives in the tragedy, as well as local artists and city officials.
“This is a real opportunity to for a hurting community to come together and heal together,” said City Councilman Richard Del Boccio. “I would like to see the monument incorporate the names of those Hoboken residents that were lost. But whatever it is, I’m sure that we will work together to create something that will make the community proud and that will pay proper reverence to those that were lost.”
The committee will, in the weeks and months ahead, reach out to various segments of the Hoboken community for their involvement and participation via focus groups and sub-committees. The fund will conduct focus groups over the next several weeks with different sectors of the Hoboken community in an effort to begin collecting community input on a future memorial. That feedback will be organized into general guidelines, which will be incorporated into a Request For Proposals (RFP). The RFP will be made available to artists interested in submitting a memorial proposal. Of the proposals received, five to six finalists will be selected, at which point the finalists will then be required to submit final proposals, which will include scale models of the proposals.
The scale models will be put on display for public viewing and feedback. The public will be given an opportunity to submit comments on the proposed memorials. Additionally, a website will be constructed that will allow for review and submission of feedback via the Internet. The final votes of the fund committee on the memorial will be guided by community input.
Art will go on
The selection of the members was announced at the wine and cheese closing reception of the community art show, “9-11, Remembering & Healing,” at the Hoboken Land Use building near the PATH station.
“9-11, Remembering and Healing” was originally scheduled to run until the end of December 2001, but because of public support the show was extended through January 15The show will then move on to the Hudson County administration building in Jersey City, where it will be on display in the rotunda.
“I’m pleased that our local art show will be moving on to adorn the halls of the county administration building,” said Mayor Roberts last week. “We in Hoboken have been affected by this tragedy in a very unique way, and I think this art show was a positive step in helping our community begin to heal. Hopefully, sharing our small art show with other communities can comfort others the way it has comforted us.”