Supervisors hold off on moving 9/11 beam

How best to commemorate 9/11 in Carson City – and the state of Nevada – evoked a range of emotions Thursday as the Board of Supervisors weighed a proposal to move the World Trade Center steel I-beam at Mills Park to a new firefighters memorial being constructed at the Nevada Capitol Complex.

“Sacred is not even a strong enough word for what it (the beam) represents,” Carson City Fire Capt. Bryon Hunt said at one point during the discussion.

Hunt is also vice president of Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada, which is overseeing the new memorial and has requested the move at no cost to the city. Supervisors didn’t vote on the item but asked the organization return in a few weeks with more proposals on how the beam could have a separate identity as a greater 9/11 memorial.

“It has to retain its own identity,” said Supervisor Maurice White.

Supervisor Lisa Schuette said the beam needs to be honored in a way that encompasses the tragedy of that day, when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. She said the memorial needs to be mindful of not only the firefighters who lost their lives, but other first responders, public servants, and citizens.

“It is such a huge part of the story of this country,” she said.

Supervisor Stan Jones said he’s personally opposed to moving it.

“It’s a separate issue and should remain where it is now,” he said.

Speaking during public comment, Carson City resident Jamie Stevenson said she takes her children to Mills Park to show them the existing memorial. She said if the beam can’t be its own exhibit on state grounds, it should stay at Mills Park.

“It’s a part of American history,” she said. “It’s important to all of us.”

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong testified there should be “nothing exclusive about the 9/11 memorial.”

“We need to recognize everybody who died and continues to die,” he told the Appeal after the hearing. “The state Capitol would be privileged to have it.”

Supervisor Stacey Giomi, former fire chief, asked whether it would be possible to place the beam between the new firefighters memorial and the existing peace officers memorial at the Capitol. Hunt responded it would take legislative action. Just getting land for the firefighters memorial took years of work and thousands of donations for construction, more than $750,000. Hunt said he’ll discuss available space and potentially using the back wall of the new memorial with PFFN members in the coming weeks.

Jim Shirk, who, as a private citizen, helped procure the beam years ago, told the Appeal he prefers the beam be moved to the state Capitol. He said Mills Park was the only location at the time of installation, but the current memorial doesn’t get seen as much as it would at the Capitol.

Hunt did tell supervisors the state memorial would provide 24/7 security.

“The state does enjoy having memorials on the property,” he said.

Also included in the new memorial are 6-foot-tall bronze statues of firefighters to help remember those fallen in the line of duty. Hunt said the WTC beam would “sit very proudly in a new area.” It would also retain Carson City’s original plaque.

City officials first declared Mills Park the location of the beam in 2013.

In other action, supervisors unanimously approved a local grant match, not to exceed roughly $40,000, for the purchase of 56 self-contained breathing apparatus units and 24 additional SCBA masks for the Carson City Fire Department.

The grant is being awarded by FEMA, and the department’s share is $392,727. The department’s current SCBAs are more than 10 years old and need to be replaced by 2024 to meet federal standards.