Arroyo Grande is getting a 9/11 memorial thanks to a local Boy Scout

When 14-year-old Zachary Hall needed a community service project as part of his requirements to becoming an Eagle Scout, he chose to honor first responders who died before he was even born.

Hall recently designed a memorial for those who died in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. The memorial would be placed at the Arroyo Grande fire station on Station and Traffic ways, he said, and act as a reminder of the loss of life that day.

At a meeting of the Arroyo Grande City Council on Tuesday, Hall said he was inspired to pick this topic by the 9/11 memorial in San Luis Obispo, as well as the impact the attack has had on America in the more than 16 years since it occurred.

"I chose this project because of the importance of this event on our nation's history," he said. "It will be a place for people in this area to think back and remember the brave people who paid the ultimate price, running into a building, and into danger, that other people were running out of, to save lives. I think this is an important thing to remember, and the bravery of our first responders is something we should never forget."

The memorial would act as Hall's community service project, a requirement for any scout seeking to gain the rank of Eagle Scout. Hall is a member of Nipomo Troop 450 and a freshman at Central Coast New Tech High School.

The memorial would consist of a 140-square-foot concrete pentagon inlaid into the hillside in front of the fire station, with 344 red tiles for firefighters, 60 blue for police and eight white for EMT personnel placed across the shape. It would include two porcelain rectangular shapes inside, representing the Twin Towers. It would also feature a steel fragment from the wreckage, owned by Five Cities Fire Authority.

Hall estimated the project would cost roughly $4,000 to build and install; to date he has raised $3,000, he said, from local businesses and a Rubics Cube competition he hosted last month.

Hall said he hopes to have the project completed by the end of August so he could officially dedicate it to the city on the 17-year anniversary of the attack.

City Council members on Tuesday commended him for his efforts and unanimously approved his project.

"As a history teacher, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the values that have been instilled in you by your community, your family and presumably your faith that allows you to feel so deeply about an event that you were not alive for," Councilwoman Caren Ray said. "That speaks to my heart so strongly."

This isn't the first Eagle Scout project to benefit the city: Last year, Boy Scout Riley Betita designed and built a new playground for the city near the Arroyo Grande Rotary Bandstand in Heritage Park as part of his Eagle Scout community service.

This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Arroyo Grande is getting a 9/11 memorial thanks to a local Boy Scout."