Laguna Beach relives 9/11 through monument - OCRegister

LAGUNA BEACH – When two beams from the World Trade Center wreckage arrived at artist Jorg Dubin's doorstep, the impact of seeing them firsthand became his inspiration to create a meaningful monument dedicated to the victims of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I wanted them to appear in the same way they were found," Dubin, 55, said following Sunday's dedication at Monument Point in Heisler Park. "I wanted people to be able to go and touch them. I wanted it to reflect not only the two towers in New York but the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania."

Hundreds of people joined Dubin, city officials. Laguna Beach Police, two representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and firefighters from Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and the Orange County Fire Authority to dedicate the monument named "Semper Memento."

The idea for the monument came from Laguna Beach Fire Capt. Andrew Hill, who approached then-Fire Chief Mike Macey with his plan two years ago. With approval from the City Council, the city contacted the Port Authority in New York to ask for the two beams to be used in a piece of public art. Resident Mark Porterfield donated $30,000 to get the project funded. Dubin was chosen as the artist through a public art competition.

During the ceremony, a flag once flown at the World Trade Center was presented to Mayor Toni Iseman. The city's flag at Heisler Park was taken down and the new flag was raised to half-staff in its place.

"Heisler Park draws visitors from all over the world," Iseman said. "Just as when the towers went down, the whole world cared for us and all the differences melted away. I believe that to have the monument in a place where people from all over the world visit — is perfect."

Dubin's sculpture starts with a base shaped in the form of the Pentagon. An internal planter on the base represents the field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed. An anchored stainless steel sphere reflects all the parts of the memorial.

"I wanted people to see their own reflection and become part of the memorial," Dubin said.

For Alan Lindquist, 38, the ceremony and dedication was compelling but also painful.

Lindquist, then an institutional broker with Morgan Stanley, had just come out of a meeting at 8:35 a.m. on the 61st floor of the North Tower. A friend asked him to join in on a smoke break and the two got to the base of the tower when the first plane hit at 8:46 a.m.

"The crescendo of noise increased rapidly and I looked to the sky," Lindquist said. "I saw this man across the street gesture to get back inside as a sliced cross-section of a jet engine landed 10 feet from where I was. Debris started pelting the whole area and people began running and screaming. I saw window fall and cut a woman in half."

Lindquist tried to force his way back inside the revolving doors but they wouldn't budge. He looked up again at the North Tower and saw papers spilling out of the building. Then he saw a woman in a white blouse, blue skirt and long brown hair falling through the air. He couldn't peel his eyes off of her. He saw people just tumbling out from one window, one after the other.

He started running. When the second plane hit the South Tower about 75 yards away, Lindquist felt the heat on the back of his neck.

"I thought that was it for me," he said. "Then I ran past the wheelhouse of a plane. I kept running toward the Brooklyn Bridge access road. That's when I jumped in front of a taxi and said, 'Get me out of here.'"

Now a new resident in Laguna, Lindquist was overwhelmed with the community feel at the dedication.

"It's definitely emotional," he said following the ceremony. "I don't have survivor's guilt but I lost a good friend, Fred Cox, who I'd known since high school, college and was in my fraternity. It's nice to remember the people that day. It's wonderful to breathe a sigh of relief and know whatever happens will never equal the pain of that day. It's time to make the most of my life and let nothing hold me back."

For Laguna Beach Deputy Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse, the ceremony brought the memory for Sept. 11 full-circle. It was La Tendresse who 10 years ago led a candlelight vigil at Main Beach drawing thousands just a few days after the terrorist attacks.

He called the monument "an incredible piece to add to the city's art ambiance," adding that with its placement at Monument Point overlooking the Pacific Ocean it connects both the East and West coasts.

"It's weird where we've come from," he said. "I was in the military. I never thought I'd have chemical suits and medicine to combat the affects of nerve agents from a terrorist attack but we carry those now on our trucks. It's a different world. I don't think we can say we'll never be attacked, but I think we're safer."

For Ally Shaffer, of Laguna Beach, the monument signified unity.

"It's important for everyone to get together in a way we weren't before 9/11," she said. "Everyone united more strongly after that but I see some disappearance of that again. The monument here unites us."

Dan Church, from San Juan Capistrano, said seeing the monument and ceremony made all the memories come back clearly for him.

"It was tragic situation that shook the world," he said. "Seeing the monument reminds me of what I was doing that day and the impact of what happened."

Contact the writer: 949-454-7307 or eritchie@ocregister.com or twitter.com/lagunaini

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12 Sep, 2011

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