First Responders & 9/11 Memorial

 Statues are located on the Boardwalk at St. James Place. 

On December 5, 2014, the City of Atlantic City dedicated a new monument in honor of firefighters, police officers, and K9 officers, along with a complimentary monument created especially in the memory of those lost while responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The monuments were part of a $145,000 CRDA revitalization project of Boardwalk space at the end of St. James Place, which had previously been damaged by a fire.

The dedication ceremony began with a mass at the St. Nicholas of Tolentine church, followed by a procession of policemen and firefighters from Atlantic City and Jersey City. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Taps and the unveiling of the monuments.

The First Responders monument features three bronze statues - a policeman, a firefighter, and a K9 dog. The police officer statue is modeled after Melvin Vincent Santiago, a police officer from Jersey City who was killed in the line of duty in July 2014. The statues were designed by sculptor Brian Hanlon, who had previously designed the statue of Miss America in front of Boardwalk Hall and the Leavander Johnson statue in City Center Park.

Hanlon Sculpture Studio also designed the adjacent 9/11 Memorial, which features two seven-foot tall granite towers, representing the World Trade Center, into which are chiseled a fireman’s helmet and a police shield. At a later date, existing plaques which honor Atlantic City natives who died on September 11^th will be moved to accompany the St. James memorial.

The memorial was a joint effort by the City of Atlantic City, the CRDA, and Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub on St. James Place. Burke was the project’s catalyst, wanting to give back in some way to the police officers and firefighters who patronize her business.