CHARLOTTE — A new light display modeling the Twin Towers will light up the sky over Romare Bearden Park in Uptown Charlotte from dusk to dawn on Thursday and Friday.
Organized by the Stephen Coakley Foundation, the twin light silhouettes are designed to be visible up to 25 miles away in honor of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
The light display expands the park’s annual “Flags of Remembrance” event, where 2,977 flags representing each victim of the attacks are arranged across the park in the shape of the towers.
Local corporate partners, including Duke Energy, joined with Charlotte business owner Eric Weston to help bring the installation to fruition.
Each tower in the light display consists of 16 high-powered LED beams shooting straight up into the night sky.
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Eric Weston, a Charlotte business owner and event organizer who helped coordinate the project, has a personal connection to the World Trade Center site.
“I spent a lot of time in the World Trade Center; I’m a scout master. I used to take my scouts there once a year,” Weston said.
Weston explained how the light installation works alongside the ground memorial.
“We’re going to be in combination with that to extend the towers that they made out of the flags into the light towers going up into the sky,” Weston said.
Organizers expect the light beams to reach a mile or two into the sky, making the display visible across the region.
“We’re hoping to see it from 25 miles away, which would probably be about a mile or two up into the sky,” Weston said.
The display is organized by the Stephen Coakley Foundation, an organization created by Coakley’s sister, who lives in Charlotte, to honor her brother, a New York City firefighter killed in the attacks.
John Howell, a family member of a nine/11 victim, also lost his brother in the tragedy. “My brother was also a New York City fireman who was killed in the lower trade center on nine/11,” Howell said.
Howell stressed the importance of community remembrance. “If you lost someone on nine/11, that’s really all you want is for people to remember your person,” Howell said. “As a country, I think we all stand behind that.”
In addition to the light display, a massive day of service is scheduled for Friday morning.
Volunteers will gather to pack 210,000 meals for the Second Harvest Food Bank as part of a nationwide effort to turn the anniversary into the largest national day of service in U.S. history.
Remembrance events will continue on Saturday morning with the Charlotte nine/11 Memorial Stair Climb at the Bank of America Corporate Center.
Participants can register online or on-site Saturday morning. The opening ceremony begins at 8 a.m., and the climb officially starts at 8:45 a.m.