A bit of broadcast history came to Quincy, Ill., recently, and will soon be on display permanently there.
Harris Broadcast Communications released this photo of a Sept. 11 commemorative event that took place in Quincy last weekend.
It said city officials had approached the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and requested a steel artifact from the remains of the World Trade Center buildings; the request was granted.
“The artifact is a 15-foot-long, 7,000-pound steel structure that was part of the antenna tower located on World Trade Center Building #1,” according to the Harris announcement.
“This structure supported a television broadcasting antenna that was designed and manufactured by Harris at its Quincy plant, which is still home to Harris radio and TV transmission manufacturing operations. A caravan of fire, police and emergency medical services vehicles escorted the steel artifact from the Quincy Regional Airport to Quincy City Hall.”
Plans are underway to erect the artifact near the city’s 9/11 memorial at the Quincy City Hall Plaza. A dedication ceremony is planned for Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks.
Update: Radio World asked Harris for more info about how this came about. Harris Broadcast Value Engineering Manager Rex Niekamp replied by email:
“The artifact that the city obtained was part (one side) of an eight-sided tower structure that supported all of the antennas above. This piece (as was the entire tower/mast) was supplied and erected as part of the building structure, I believe, and then all of the antennas mounted to this mast. The antenna provided by Harris was a model TAC-6H and was installed for WOR/WNET Channel 9 and 13 and was the second antenna of its type, a Cavity Backed Radiator (CBR) panel antenna with full circular polarization. The Harris antenna was mounted in wrap around fashion to the tower/mast section that was located just above the ‘artifact’ section.”
He said Quincy City Engineer Jeff Steinkamp previously had been employed by Harris and was involved in the design of the antenna. “As he was part of the city committee requesting an artifact from the WTC, he used his knowledge of the Harris connection to steer [them] towards the antenna that was produced in Quincy,” Niekamp said. “As the project gained approval and momentum, Jeff contacted me at Harris and I was able add Harris support to the project.”
