Posted 12:11 am Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tyler Pipe Leaving Mark On NYC's Freedom Tower
By MELISSA CROWE
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
From the East Texas to East Coast, one Tyler company is leaving its thumbprint on a piece of New York City's Freedom Tower.
About a year ago, Tyler Pipe Co. accepted an order for pipe to use in the construction of the Freedom Tower in New York City.
Rather than just fill the 250,000-plus-pound order, Thad Hicks, the company's east regional sales manager who sold the pipe, wanted to commemorate the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
He suggested stenciling each cast-iron pipe with a tribute: "We will never forget 9-11-01."
"Every time I'm up there and on the site, it's just an eerie feeling," he said. "You can't go up there and be on that site without thinking about it. ... The caption just says it all: As long as you're breathing, you won't forget."
Compared with the enormous structure, the stenciling is small, but speaks volumes for a lot of people, not just in New York, but everywhere, Hicks said.
"These pipes will be on there hundreds of years," he said. "No matter what happens, if they tear a wall down or move things around, those pipes will always be there and that phrase will always be there."
Construction on the 104-story, 1,776-foot, Freedom Tower began in 2006 in the northwest corner of the World Trade Center site and is scheduled for a 2013 completion.
John Springer, the comptroller at Tyler Pipe Co., said he was honored to contribute to the project.
"Just the fact that this is going in the World Trade Tower and it's patriotic in the local area makes me proud," he said.
