Placement of 9/11 sculpture divides city

A sculpture built to bring Americans together after 9/11 is dividing the city as the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks draws near.

Some residents oppose placing Tempered by Memory, which was created by two New York artists with steel from the World Trade Center, on the lawn of the Saratoga Springs Visitor Center. Center officials, a local artist and some historic preservationists said the 22-foot-high artwork would clash with the streetscape of that section of Broadway, which includes buildings and monuments from 1915. Some in the group say the monument belongs near the state Military Museum and city firehouse on Lake Avenue.

The clash has caused the City Council to skip a vote on the project's approval, leading some to believe that the sculpture will not be displayed by Sept. 11. On Monday, the director of Saratoga Arts, the main sponsor of the project, blasted critics of the location and members of the City Council for the delay. Drawing a comparison to a 2004 political ad that attacked Democratic presidential candidate and decorated Vietnam veteran John Kerry for his war credentials, director Joel Reed said opponents were "swiftboating" the 9/11 memorial.

In a letter to supporters that was obtained by the Times Union, Reed accused city Democrats of opposing the project for partisan gain during an election year. He also charged the Republicans who control the City Council of backing down in the face of opposition to the project and of treating Sept. 11 as "an arbitrary date on the calendar."

Tempered by Memory was originally slated to be in front of the Saratoga Springs City Center. City officials changed that last month to the visitor center, saying the sculpture was too large.

Several speakers protested the new site at the last City Council meeting. Michael Messinger, co-chairman of the visitor center's board, and Lance Ingmire, a board member, said the modern sculpture would threaten the historic integrity of the area.

They suggested putting the art on Lake Avenue. "It would be reprehensible to rush this process without fully vetting other locations," Ingmire said.

Artist Amejo Amyot of the Beekman Art District on the city's west side took a harder line. She accused Saratoga Arts of a "serious breach of arts in public places etiquette."

The organization failed to invite calls for entries from other artists for the project before choosing sculptors John Van Alstine of Wells, Hamilton County, and Noah Savett of Gansevoort, Amyot said. "If we were to honor anything about this tragedy, it should be the people we lost," she said. "The sculpture has no redeeming aesthetic or artistic value."