Twin towers monument soon will be a memory

MONROE — For almost 10 years, passers-by from near and far have stopped at Ken Kokoska’s home to leave notes and flowers or pose to have pictures taken in front of the makeshift twin towers on his front lawn. But that’s about to end.

The iconic towers, which have worn with age, soon will be taken down.

“I’m planning on taking them down at the end of September or early October,” the Mounts Mills Road resident said. “They’re showing their age and (Osama) bin Laden is dead. I originally thought I would just keep it up one day for each death, but when I did the math, I realized I was well beyond that.”

Kokoska said he got the idea for the towers shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.

“I didn’t know anyone who died in 9/11, but I didn’t want people to forget what happened,” Kokoska said. “I didn’t know how long it would take for official monuments to show up in towns, and I wanted something that would remind people right away.”

He started working on the project in his basement but soon got distracted. Working as a postal employee, he was dealing with an anthrax scare that occurred shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

The towers finally were erected on Dec. 19, 2001.

Kokoska said he used a tax refund to partially fund his project. The project cost about $500, he said. Kokoska’s models were built on a 1:100 scale. His towers, made of wood, are about 13.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

One tower has an antenna and the other includes an inside stairway that allows him to climb to the top.

Floodlights shine on the towers a few hours a night, he said.

“They also had aircraft warning lights that flashed for five years, but they wore out,” he said.

Kokoska, who works for Norfolk Southern, said the towers have become a landmark.

“People ride by and then do U-turns,” he said. “I love when they send their kids out to pose in front of the towers. When we’re sitting watching TV, we see the flashing of a camera.”

“One time, somebody knocked on the door when my brother was home and gave him a couple of pieces of concrete from the towers. We have them downstairs.”

Even Kokoska’s wife, Renee, is amazed at the reaction.

“It’s a tremendous thing he has done,” she said. “When I moved in here and told people I live in Monroe, they would ask me if I knew the house with the World Trade towers.”