The Setauket Fire Department is about halfway to its goal of selling 150 memorial bricks in support of its 9/11 memorial expansion, according to fire department officials.
Chief Brendan Brown said Wednesday the $60,000 project is being financed entirely by brick sales, private donations, and by donations of goods and services, with no cost trickling down to the taxpayers.
"We're about halfway there," he said. While sales were slow at the beginning, Brown said they have picked up since then.
In addition, the original Aug. 1 deadline for the community to purchase an engraved brick has been extended at least two weeks. For $100 per brick, individuals or groups can purchase a 6” x 9” commemorative brick to be featured on the walkway. Patrons can engrave as many as three lines of up to 14 characters per line on the brick. Tax-deductible payments can be made to the Setauket Fire Department 9/11 Memorial Fund.
The fire department announced in June plans to expand the existing memorial by adding the "Path to Recovery" bricks and a granite wall with the names of each person who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"It's part of the original plan of the park," Brown said. "We just couldn't do it all at once."
The original memorial park, which was completed in time for a 9/11 memorial ceremony in 2003, is comprised of a ribbon-shaped pathway encircling a waterfall and a pool of stones and fountains. Steel from the World Trade Center was incorporated into the design of the memorial, which is surrounded by greenery with benches for sitting and reflecting.
and are donating materials and labor for the project, which broke ground earlier this week.
