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    California's Flight 93 Memorial Set to Open May 26

    March 22, 2007
    In a major step forward Tuesday, workers began installing the 40 granite remembrance stones at Sugar Mill Landing Park.

    Source Inside Bay Area

    UNION CITY -- It may not look pretty right now, but the Flight 93 memorial is on schedule for a May 26 grand opening, organizers say.

    In a major step forward Tuesday, workers began installing the 40 granite remembrance stones at Sugar Mill Landing Park on the corner of Alvarado-Niles Road and Dyer Street, across from Union Landing.

    For much of this winter, the park has looked like an abandoned construction site, but that is about to change, said Michael Emerson, who has spearheaded the project honoring the 40 victims of United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.

    After the 1-ton stones are set in place, workers will install benches, a flagpole, trees and a donor board, he said.

    When it's completed, the remembrance stones will sit alongside a concrete path. At one end of the walk will be a plaza with a tree and monuments telling the story of the flight and the project. At the other end will be a plaza with a 25-foot flagpole at its center.

    The project, which at first was scheduled to open as early as last Memorial Day, was delayed as Emerson worked to get funding and city approval.

    Construction finally began in earnest last June with the city offering the land, a company in Georgia donating the stones, and local unions supplying free labor.

    "There is still a lot to do, but it will be ready by the 26th," Emerson said.

    So far, he has received $20,000 in donations, some of which will go to the city to help maintain the memorial.

    At the city's request, the grand opening will be invitation-only, Emerson said.

    "They were concerned that if there were too many people, there would be traffic problems and parking problems with the mall," he said. Invitations will go out to city leaders, donors and families of the victims.

    Staff writer Matthew Artz covers Union City for The Argus. He can be reached at (510) 353-7003 or.

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