FREEDOM TOWER, Cary, North Carolina
Scale: 95 ft high, 200 ft. diameter ~ Materials: Steel, stone, LED lighting, concrete ~ 2013
Beautiful and calming both day and night, subtle lighting makes the white granite of Freedom Tower’s 95-foot spire “glow.” Inside the inner nurturing circle you’ll find reflective seating and embedded bronze medallions honoring our Armed Forces. Subtle LED lighting and graciously stepped terraces focus on each of the five uniformed branches, while recorded voices of loved ones are available for listening.
Freedom Tower emphasizes the strength and determination of our military through its beauty and power. Visitors come to remember, to thank, to honor in a safe, tranquil place to reflect, to mourn, to pay respect to those who serve, those who return injured, those who have been lost.
Click here to keep up to date with events and see new photos at Freedom Tower.
A Personal Story
How do you get from paper napkins to toy soldiers?
This project art consultant and I walked the site and found the best location for the memorial. Then, back at the hotel, with a giant stack of paper napkins, I went to work.
The hours turned into dozens and dozens of miniature conceptual sketches. Sketches explored the size and scale of different ideas, illustrated traffic flow and parking issues, addressed exit and easement issues, landscape configuration and more. Would the soil support a giant tower? Other sketches probed lighting & material issues. Where could we get so much North Carolina white granite?
Then you take all these crude napkin sketches, spread them on the bed, toss out a lot of bad ones and arrange what’s left.
Fast forward. The Toy Soldier Project returns. We quote from this year's Veteran's Day Program: "The Town will again offer toy soldiers on which citizens can write a soldier's name and place in the memorial as a way to honor all of those who have served in the armed forces. These [toy] solders will be saved and placed in the monument every Memorial Day and Veterans Day."
Yes, paper napkins and toy soldiers. For the heroes of the world!