Honoured to keep 9/11 memorial in Ruislip

It would be an honour to keep the abandoned 9/11 memorial in the borough.

So says Ray Puddifoot, the leader of Hillingdon Council, as news broke this week that After 9/11, the memorial made of steel girders from the Twin Towers buildings and given to London to remember those who died in the September 11 attacks, is lying in a Ruislip Gardens rail yard.

Mr Puddifoot said: "I'm sure that London Mayor Boris Johnson will have this in hand but we would be honoured to have this sculpture in Hillingdon if we were asked to do so."

The 28ft sculpture was originally put up in Battersea Park but was never given a permanent home. It was later left to rust on a farm in Cambridge.

The memorial is now held at the Transport for London and Balfour Beatty shared storage depot in Ruislip Gardens.

A TfL spokesman said: "The Mayor is committed to finding a permanent home for the 9/11 sculpture, and we are pleased to have been able to assist along the way by having it transported to and stored at London Underground's depot in Ruislip Gardens while a decision is reached on its future."

The memorial will remain at the depot in West End Road until a permanent site is found, and is being kept in a high security area of the site. The Gazette's request for access to take a picture was refused.

Peter Rosengard is chairman of the 9/11 London Project, the charity that worked hard to bring the sculpture to London in 2011, 10 years on from the attacks.

Speaking from New York, Mr Rosengard said: "The Mayor of London has said that he will find a permanent place for the memorial and I'm delighted with that.

"All we have wanted all along is a permanent home for the memorial for people in London to remember those who died."

Mr Rosengard confirmed that, despite reports stating every London borough had either refused or ignored requests to permanently house the memorial, Hillingdon Council were never approached as the borough is 'too far out'.

"Most of the people who tragically died in the attacks would have been people who worked in the city of London, or worked closely with people living in the city, and that is why we wanted it in central London," he said.

Hillingdon played its part in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when council staff and householders dashed to Heathrow Airport to offer accommodation to stranded American tourists after all flights into the US were cancelled.

Mr Johnson says he is determined to find a permanent spot for the memorial in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in Stratford.

"We backed the 9/11 project when the sculpture first came to Battersea but finding a permanent home for it has proved incredibly difficult, whether it be opposition from boroughs or bureaucrats," he said.

"Clearly this can't continue. As a result I've asked my team to find a permanent home for the sculpture on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

"The Park was home to a Games based on tolerance, harmony and respect, and will soon be home to a massive multi-dimensional and vibrant community - the perfect riposte to those who sought to divide the world on 9/11."