How community helped build 9/11 Memorial in Overland Park

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News anchor Lindsay Shively offers coverage on a wide variety of topics, Reach out to Linsday via email.

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Over a 1,000 miles away and 25 years later, a steel beam from ground zero stands in Overland Park.

The artifact is 14 feet tall, weighs two and half tons and carries an immeasurable weight.

"It bears the scars of what happened that day," said Jason Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Overland Park Fire Department. "It's an event that is etched in history."

Rhodes was part of the committee to create the memorial, and he said the 9/11 Memorial in Overland Park gets visitors from across the country.

"I've met people from coast to coast out here," Rhodes said.

He told me the Overland Park Fire Department getting awarded the steel was just one step in the process — they still had to get it here.

"So, we ended up turning to the community. I literally was sitting at one of my boys' baseball games talking to another dad telling them about this problem," Rhodes explained. "We had the steel and we couldn't get it here, and he said that he worked for a trucking company, and that he would see what he could do."

Then came the reverent journey to Kansas.

"They ask you to liken that steel to human remains — treat it with that same dignity," Rhodes said.

Through private donations and volunteers, Rhodes said making this memorial took help from dozens of people and companies.

"The trucking company, the architect stepped in. They got a general contractor involved. There were electrical contractors. There were people that came out and did all the dirt work and the drainage underneath," he said.

Alongside the steel beam at the memorial, visitors will find education panels.

Lindsay Shively/KSHB 41

"Four panels, one for each of the flights. Each of those panels tells the story of what happened on that flight," Rhodes said.

There is also a piece, known as the weeping wall fountain, designed by a local artist that "represents those who survived," per the city's website.

Visitors will find the names of those lost in the tragedy at the memorial as well.

All of this is right next to where Overland Park firefighters train.

"New York Fire Department lost 343 firefighters in a matter of hours — that's larger than our entire department," Rhodes said. "We pray to god that we never go through something like that again, but it is important to understand that when you sign up to do this, that's the pledge you make."

Rhodes said people with personal ties to the tragedy of 9/11 often come to the annual ceremony, which was held Friday morning this year.

We met Amy Axtell at the memorial dedication in 2014.

"I had survivors guilt for several years thinking it could have been me," Axtell said.

She said she was a flight attendant and knew the crew members of the first plane.

"There were years I tried to let Sept. 11 go by and avoid the news and conversations about it, but I can't. I can't let it go," Axtell said. "It's part of who I am, and it's part of all of our lives."

The city of Overland Park is the caretaker of the 9/11 Memorial, according to the city's website.

"It's our duty to keep that memory alive, keep that education going," Rhodes said.

It is free to visit the memorial.

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