The city of Indio unveiled its new 9/11 Memorial at a ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the attack on Friday, Sept. 11, at Miles Avenue Park. Featuring a 12-foot steel beam from the World Trade Center, the memorial is meant to remember the 2,977 victims who died on the day of the attack, who included hundreds of first responders.
"September 11 reminds us of the incredible sacrifice made by firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency personnel and members of our military, both on that day and in the years that followed," Indio Mayor Elaine Holmes said during the unveiling ceremony.
She said the new monument had an "incredibly powerful" quality. The beam is twisted and bent, showing the destruction caused by the planes hitting the towers
and by the buildings' collapse.
Los Angeles-based artist James Dinh anchored the beam on a tall concrete pillar. A white backdrop with the date "09/11/01" frames the beam.
"It creates a direct connection to September 11," Holmes said of the monument, "and gives future generations an opportunity to understand the magnitude of what happened, the lives that were lost, and the resilience that followed."
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indio unveils 9/11 memorial made of World Trade Center steel
