Hope and Remembrance: A Flight 93 Memorial for the San Francisco Bay Area

By Robert Mowat, RLA

 
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A team led by Landscape Architect Robert Mowat is now working on a West Coast memorial for the fourth hijacked aircraft of Sept. 11, 2001.

In February 2004, I received a phone call from Phil Sachs, public works superintendent for Union City, Calif. asking my advice on a proposed memorial for Flight 93. Sachs said the city had been approached by Michael Emerson, a local man who envisioned a Bay Area monument to the 40 passengers and crew who died near Shanksville, Pa. on the San Franciso-bound plane.

Emerson chose Union City (30 miles southeast of San Francisco) for its forward-thinking park facilities and its location near San Francisco International Airport. Mayor Mark Green took an interest in his proposal. Parks director Sachs recommended me for the memorial's design work as we had already collaborated on several park projects. I gave the idea lengthy thought and after careful consideration of the challenges, and the sensitivity involved, agreed to contribute on a pro-bono basis.

As I agreed, the city set to choosing an appropriate site. A small corner park, Sugar Mill Park, with good access to the freeway and services nearby was selected. By the end of April 2004, it was agreed that firm associates Shiho Tanaka, Dean Williams and myself would conduct a charrette and re-meet with Emerson and the city.

Red granite monuments, blue oat grass and white benches reflect the colors of the American flag for Robert Mowat's Flight 93 memorial, which is scheduled for completion near San Francisco International Airport by the end of 2006.

The day of the charrette presentation was emotional. Discussion and thoughtful banter ran high concerning what was appropriate for a memorial, what would honor all of the passengers and crew, not just the better-known names who had rushed the cockpit. Throughout the design discussions, the idea that all the passengers and crew were extraordinary Americans became apparent once we learned their individual stories.

The following weeks were spent refining the three best ideas for presentation to Emerson. The design he chose was a series of remembrance stones, one for each passenger on the flight. The red granite stones are arranged in a sinuous curve along a walkway lined with blue oat grasses and white benches.

The stones are anchored by two plazas on each end. One will have the words, "Remembrance" imbedded into the concrete with an up-lit American sweet gum in the middle. This plaza will be surrounded by three blue granite story boards. The boards will include a guide to the memorial, the story of Flight 93 and the donor/benefactors board. At the other end will be a secondary plaza with the words, "Hope" imbedded. This plaza will hold an up-lit American Flag surrounded by bands of hand-colored tile created by local children with their hopes for the future.

The flowing path leads the visitor to each stone allowing them to step off the path and individually reflect on that person. There will be white, reflection, benches along the way. California poppies, representing the flight's unmet destination are placed along the way.

As of March 2005, the Bay Area Trade Council union leader Barry Luboviski has expressed the desire of local contractors to donate labor to the project. As of this writing, I am acting as project liaison between all the parties, helping to coordinate construction on site. Groundbreaking is expected this summer with completion expected this fall or winter.

Robert Mowat Associates is a landscape architectural and land planning firm with offices located in San Francisco, the Napa Valley and soon to be Walnut Creek, Calif. The firm specializes in land planning, housing communities, estates and park and recreational design.

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