Plans for 9-11 memorial in Augusta due soon

AUGUSTA – A Boston-based landscape consultant is expected to present plans for a Sept. 11 memorial early next month to a panel overseeing the project.

The “living memorial” in Capitol Park will honor Maine history and serve as a tribute to those who died in the attacks, said Earle Shettleworth, chairman of the State House and Capitol Park Commission.

“It will honor those who lost their lives, but not in a conventional way of an event statue,” Shettleworth said.

Marion Pressley, the consultant, will consider the rows of trees running through the middle of the park and landscaping possibilities along Capitol and State streets, Shettleworth said.

Pressley is due to report to the commission early next month, and the plans will likely be presented to the public at a meeting later in the month.

The commission is supposed to come up with its plan by Nov. 6.

A bill passed by the Legislature earlier this year called for the park commission to design a memorial that will “enhance the natural beauty of the park and to provide a place for quiet reflection on the events of Sept. 11.”