Hartsville 9/11 Memorial Towers Damaged by Weather

The eye-catching replica World Trade Center towers have been noticeably absent from the Hartsville Fire Company's 9/11 Memorial on York Road.

According to Ed Pfeiffer, chairperson of Hartsville's 9/11 Memorial Committee, the material used to surround the concrete blocks had been damaged by dramatic temperature changes.

"It was an empty box made out of corian and lowered by crane over the concrete," said Pfeiffer. "It did not like thermal change. The north tower was fine because it is in the south tower's shadow. But when we had really hot days followed by really cold nights, the south tower got a crack two feet down and two feet across."

The cracked tower was replaced once before, but the second time was one more too many. Pfeiffer says that within the next couple weeks, the towers will be recoated in more weather-resistant material called drivit.

"It's the same material that's on the walls of the fire house," said Pfeiffer. "It will be glued onto the concrete."