CRC Man Designs 9/11 Water Memorial

Dan Euser, a landscape architect who is a member of a Christian Reformed Church, says he experienced God’s hand and grace at work throughout the lengthy process of designing two fountains of cleansing, cascading water that are a key part of the NationalSeptember 11 Memorial and Museum.

Located on the 16-acre site in New York City where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood, the memorial takes up about half of the area. Euser’s design includes the large fountains, from which water pours into two deep, square pools, where the towers once stood, before the water disappears into a an opening.

"I wanted to make the water visible but not overpowering," said Euser, who belongs to Community CRC of Richmond Hills in Toronto, Ontario. "I see the water as a symbol of washing away and of healing and yet also reflecting a vale of tears – the grief that the families of those who died in the towers still feel."

The waterfalls and reflecting pools also represent a sense of renewal and closure: The water flows down, disappears and then reappears to begin flowing again.

"I feel humbled. It has been an honor to be part of that renewal," said Euser. "The memorial has become sacred ground. It is a place of healing for the families and for others from all over the world that remember that day and will visit the site."

Euser was visiting his father in Holland on the day of the attacks. At first, he was worried that his brother, who worked in New York City and regularly walked through the World Trade Center, may have been caught in the devastation. But he was not there when the planes hit the towers.

At that time, he had no idea that he would play a role in helping to create a memorial whose focus is to help heal the many wounds that were opened that day.

Lynnette Postuma, also a landscape architect in Toronto and a member of the CRC, says Dan Euser was a good choice for the project. He is an easy-going man who keeps a low profile, rarely talking about his status as a pre-eminent expert in the area of water-feature design. But he has been involved in projects all over the world.

"He is creative and very competent. In the world of architecture and landscape architecture everyone knows who he is," she said.

The memorial and museum were dedicated in a ceremony held onSeptember 11, 2011, which was 10 years to the day when airplanes, driven by terrorists, crashed into the towers. Also on that day, a terrorist-operated plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and another plane was taken over by passengers and crash-landed in a farm field in Pennsylvania.

As part of theSeptember 11, 2011 ceremony and commemoration in New York City, President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush and their wives walked along a wall etched with the names of those who died a decade ago at the World Trade Center. They also solemnly passed by the memorial pools.

After gazing at the waterfalls, they shook hands and hugged family members of the victims of the attack. Following a moment of silence, Obama read passages from the Bible. Bush read a letter by Abraham Lincoln. Families read the names of those who died.

The museum is still being built on the site of what is called The Memorial Plaza. More than 400 trees are planned for the plaza, surrounding the Memorial's massive reflecting pools.

In preparation for building the pools on the site of Ground Zero, Euser constructed a mock-up in the yard behind his home and workshop north of Toronto. The temporary structure was made of plywood sheets, timber framing, steel-plate bracing and pumps.

He used the mock-up to search for the ideal angle, distribution, speed and volume of water flow. When he viewed the memorial in the days before the ceremony, he was pleased by what he saw.

"The water is animated by the weather. Crystal streams fall down in the sunlight. Gusts of wind lift the water out. It is just alive."

His Christian faith and biblical themes of cleansing, healing and renewal, he said, have helped in inspiring the work that he has done, especially in the Ground Zero project.

"I see God's hand in all of this. It's been providential (his whole entry into the field of designing waterfalls and the growth of his business)," he said.

Euser's firm is Waterarchitecture Inc. He worked as a consultant to the designers of theSeptember 11 memorial.