Twin towers replica
offers solace for many
JERRY WOLKOWITZ A re-creation of the twin towers stands on the grounds of Tinton Falls Fire Company No. 1 at the corner of Tinton and Sycamore avenues. Many people visit the model, bringing flowers, cards and messages.
TINTON FALLS — Emotionally taunted and torn down by his own Sept. 11 tragedy, one public servant named Jared Stevens decided to build toward a higher healing experience for himself and others. And build he did — literally 8 feet up.
In what could be termed a cathartic course of action, the 18-year borough police force corporal, who is also a 20-year fire company veteran, created a replica of the World Trade Center twin towers to share as a way of getting over the shock of the sudden attack on America.
The 8-foot-by-18-inch plywood towers now sit on the grounds of the Tinton Falls Fire Company No. 1 at the corner of Tinton and Sycamore avenues. The startlingly realistic model serves as a memorial/monument. Since the model was placed on the firehouse grounds in mid-December, Mass cards, flowers and messages have been placed at its base.
"Everyone has their own way of dealing with the Sept. 11 attack," Stevens said. "For me, building this was a way to deal with something and someone that were taken away so quickly."
For Stevens, the journey to building the scale towers was one fraught with buried feelings. This was a way out for them. Stevens had spent the night of Sept. 10 in New York City visiting a friend. The morning of Sept. 11, at about 8:30 a.m. on his way back to New Jersey, he dropped that friend off for work at the World Trade Center. He never saw that friend again.
He undertook the creation of the replica as a means of dealing with his own loss and the sense of loss he felt all around him.
"I’ve seen a lot as a fireman, former first aid worker and a police officer. Sept. 11 was the most devastating," he said.
Since that day, Stevens, who had been fascinated with the twin towers from the time of their construction beginning back in the 1960s, took to studying the buildings, gathering any and all information he could to build the replica.
"I figured if I was going to do this, it had to be accurate. I studied aerial photos, Internet renderings, photos from every angle — anything I could get my hands on," he said, adding that no one knew what he was up to.
On Nov. 10, Stevens recalled, he bought the materials to build the towers. Closing himself in his garage, he buried himself in the building process. He cut 3/4-inch plywood into angles, painted, carved, applied 1/4-inch strips of laminate in between some 40,000 1/4-inch holes he had drilled for windows, wired the model and built antennas (that bring the replicas to 11 feet).
"I knew I was really wrapped up in this project and almost lost myself in it when I found myself drilling the holes for windows, and I got to about 40,000," he said. Stevens spent a total of 35 days constructing the model, with the north tower taking 20 days, and the south tower 15. There is a platform that depicts where buildings 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the World Trade Center stood, and it all lights up.
Stevens’ fire company friends knew he was up to something but they didn’t have a clue what it was, and he wanted it to stay that way. It was a way of working through something privately for him, something that he would share in good time with a public that needed it as much as he did.
"A friend finally figured it out right before it was done. He came over and started to walk into the garage. He saw it and said, ‘I would’ve helped you.’ I explained that I had to do this on my own," the 38-year-old Stevens said.
The twin towers replica was placed on the firehouse grounds Dec. 14. People were amazed. Ever since, cars have slowed, some have stopped, and many people have called. The sight is mesmerizingly spooky, yet soothing. Stevens cautions it’s a lot safer to pull into the fire company parking lot and get out of your car to look at the replica. The sight could cause one to have a heavy foot on the brakes.
When asked if the process and outcome have given him a sense of peace, Stevens replied, "A lot of people feel that seeing the scale model puts a peace back in them that was ripped away too quickly. I kind of amazed myself with the accuracy, but I’m just glad it’s there and doing what it was meant to — helping people to get used to something so unbelievable. This is something physical to hang onto for healing, even if it’s for a minute. Sometimes I just sit and look at it by myself. Seeing it makes me feel good things and a sense of personal growth. I only hope it does the same for others who are suffering."