Overview

9/11 Memorial Tower Climb

2024 TOWER CLIMB

The 2024 tower climb will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2024. More details will follow and registration will open this summer. Please check back for more information on the 2024 climb!

The event is not a timed race, but a way for first responders and the community to honor and remember the ultimate sacrifice made by the fallen first responders.

City Center Security & City Center Management are hosting a tower climb in honor of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

The World Trade Center Towers each consisted of 110 floors and 2071 steps. During the City Center climb, participants this year will climb 36 floors 3 times which is nearly the 110 floors of the World Trade Center. There will be various tributes to memorialize the fallen first responders including a local Pipe & Drum Band starting off the opening ceremony and playing Amazing Grace, a dedicated moment of silence recognizing the timeline that unfolded on September 11, 2001, and each of today’s heroes – our local first responders – will carry a name and photo of a hero who responded to the World Trade Centers.

The bells will continue to toll at marked times throughout the event and hold a moment of silence for the strike of each tower, the pentagon, the crash of flight 93 and collapse of both towers, as time permits.

Eventbrite registration opens June 1 at 8:00 am.

Click for Eventbrite Registration

Timeline of Events:

  • 7:00 am Registration Opens
  • 8:25 am Opening Ceremony
  • 8:46 am Moment of Silence
  • North Tower Hit by Flight 11
  • 8:47 am Climb Begins

The bells will continue to toll at marked times throughout the event and hold a moment of silence for the strike of each tower, the pentagon, the crash of flight 93 and collapse of both towers, as time permits.

Event Address

Bank of America Tower

301 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Get Directions

Parking:

City Center Garage 2

401 Calhoun Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
map of city center memorial tower climb, september 9, 2023 parking

Of the 2,977 victims killed in the September 11 attacks, 415 were first responders, including 343 firefighters; 37 Port Authority and New Jersey police officers; 23 New York City police officers; eight private EMTs and paramedics; three New York State Court Officers; one New York Fire Patrol officer and one FBI Special Agent.

Over the course of three hours, 121 engine companies, 62 ladder companies and 27 fire officers were deployed to the scene. All off-duty firefighters were recalled—the first time the FDNY issued a total recall in more than 30 years.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Tower Climb will take place in two stairwells inside the:

Bank of America Tower
301 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Participants will climb to the 36th floor in this tower 3 times, totaling 108 floors climbed during this event. Elevators will be available for participants to quickly go down and start again at the base to complete the challenge. Also, volunteers will be at the stairway entrance to mark the lanyard to help keep track of the number of times each participant climbs the stairs.

The opening ceremonies begin promptly at 8:25 am so please ensure to allow enough time to park and check in prior to that time. We recommend arriving at least 30 minutes early.

All participants will receive a swag bag with a commemorative coin, t-shirt, and an event lanyard with the name and image of one of the fallen first responders on September 11, 2001, that you will be climbing in honor of during this event.

Sorry, but we cannot accommodate day-of registrations at this time.

We will have very limited shirt sizes available onsite to exchange. Please talk with the individuals at the check in table to inquire about exchanging shirts, if needed.

Please email us at info@citycenterfw.com should you have received an incorrect item. We will do our best to fix the incorrect item for you, after the event is completed.

The City Center Parking Garage 2 is the best space to park for the event. It is located at:
401 Calhoun Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

An alternate address to access this parking garage is 401 Jones Street (one way street going north). Parking in this garage is free on the weekends.

Participants may check in beginning at 7:00 am on the north side (2nd Street) of the Bank of America tower. You will receive your participant lanyard at check in.

Event swag bags (which include the event t-shirts, coin, etc.) will be available for pickup after the event is completed at the same check in tables. Swag bags will be available afterward to minimize the items the participant has to keep up with. If the participant would like their swag bag when they check in, that will be available upon request.

Yes, on the north side of the tower (near 2nd Street under the skybridge), there will be an area with marked off and staffed to store your items during the climb. Please note there will not be a checking in/checking out process, just an area to place your items and to return to pick them up again.

The opening ceremony begins at 8:25 am on Commerce Street, on the west side of the Bank of America tower. Once it’s time to begin the climb, City Center Security will lead the participants to the stairways.

We will have two stairways open for this event. One on the NORTH side of the tower, and one on the SOUTH side of the tower. When you check in, you’ll receive a color-coded lanyard that will indicate if you’re climbing in the North or South stairway. There will be volunteers to assist you in finding the correct entrance to each stairway, as well as color codes above each stairway entrance. The climb will begin immediately after the opening ceremony.

First, please remember that this is a memorial event and personal challenge, and not a fitness competition. Please be respectful to everyone around you and be aware of your surroundings as you progress. The general rule is that slower climbers stay to the right, and faster climbers stay to the left. Please be respectful of each one and give them plenty of space during their climb.

For fast climbers, please be sure to stay to the left, and be patient if you find that you’re behind someone slower than yourself. You’ll get a chance to pass at the top of each staircase. For slower climbers, stay to the right, and feel free to step out of the aisle and into the stands to let others pass if you wish; or if you want to pass another slow climber, please ensure the way is clear before moving to the left side, making your pass, and then move back to the right.

Anyone who needs a break is welcome to take a seat or lie down in designated break areas. There will be a few stopping/break points throughout the climb. At each stopping point there will be space to rest, get water, use the restroom and/or ask for further assistance.

If you need help, please find one of our volunteers, wearing tower climb t-shirts, or one of the City Center Security Officers, wearing their City Center uniforms. There will be volunteers and City Center Security at each stopping point in the towers.

Children are welcome to watch with their guardians as there will be a designated area for spectators on Commerce Street with a view of the doors the climbers will exit before beginning their climb again in the stairwells.

There will be seating on Commerce Street where non-participants are welcome to sit and watch the event take place.

Comfortable clothing, running shoes/sneakers, or first responders are encouraged to wear their full gear usually worn when responding to an emergency. We will provide water during the event, but please hydrate the day before!

Times will of course range based on fitness level. We estimate it could take anywhere from an hour to 2+ hours to complete.

Absolutely. We love to have participants wearing their full tactical or bunker gear during the event. It serves as a visual reminder of what our fallen Heroes went through that day, and of what our first responders and current Heroes are willing to do for us now.

No refund requests will be granted at this time, as all entries are considered a donation that will be passed along to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Brotherhood of the Fallen.

Restrooms will be available for first responders at each stopping point from the street level to level 36. Spectators may use a restroom trailer located on 3rd Street.

We do not have room blocks at any hotels however, these hotels are nearby/walking distance to the event.
The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth
Aloft Fort Worth Downtown
Courtyard Fort Worth Downtown/Blackstone
Embassy Suites by Hilton Fort Worth Downtown

Please bring a department or station patch to share on this year’s Patch Board. The board will be at street level for the participants to add their patch once they’ve completed the climb.

PAST YEAR’S TOWER CLIMBS

2023

2023 Gallery

2022

2022 Gallery

PLEASE NOTE:

This event is only open to certified law enforcement officers/first responders.

Media Contact:

Carolyn Alvey
Aardvark Communications
carolyn@aardvarktx.com
972.423.4144 Office
214.394.0078 Cell

What's the Buzz

City Center has new neighbors! We’re proud to take part in the movement for a more eco-conscious city by installing a beehive on The Grill’s patio in City Club! Our beehive will be home to thousands of bees. Our new colleagues are pollinating the urban flora that surrounds us this summer. At the end of the season, we’ll harvest their honey and share it with our community.

What about stings, you ask? No need to fret! Bees really aren’t interested in human beings. They have one goal, and one goal only: to collect nectar and pollen from flowers within a 3-mile radius of their hive and bring it back to ensure the colony’s development.

Plus, bees die when they sting. It causes them to lose their stinger and a part of their abdomen - meaning they really have no interest in doing so, unless they feel their colonys threatened.

Our project is in collaboration with Alvéole, a social beekeeping company that has been around since 2013. They have partnered with hundreds of schools and companies like ours on beekeeping projects. Each hive creates greater ecological awareness, allowing city dwellers to reconnect with nature and adjust their sense of responsibility towards the environment. This season, we will discover the ties that bind us to bees and the flora and fauna that surround us, right here in the city.

Visit City Center Hive