Firefighters in full turnout gear, sheriff's deputies, paramedics and everyday Charlotteans will climb 2,200 steps inside North Carolina's tallest skyscraper next Saturday, each carrying the name and photograph of a first responder killed on September 11, 2001. The Charlotte 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb moves this year into the 60-story Bank of America Corporate Center at 100 N. Tryon Street, a dramatic shift from the outdoor stadium settings the event has used in recent years.
Onsite registration opens at 7 a.m. on September 12, with an opening ceremony at 8 a.m. and climbing running from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to a post from the Charlotte Fire Department. The climb is co-organized by Charlotte Fire alongside CMPD, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office and Medic, and it's open to firefighters, first responders and members of the public who want to take part, per the department's Facebook announcement. Those interested can register at bit.ly/clt25climb.
The 871-foot Bank of America Corporate Center, completed in 1992 and designed by architect César Pelli, has remained the tallest building in North Carolina and serves as Bank of America's corporate headquarters, according to Wikipedia. Climbing its stairwells gives participants an actual high-rise experience, a notable change after the event was held at UNC Charlotte's Jerry Richardson Stadium in 2024 and 2025 and at Truist Field in 2021 and 2022, per University City Partners.
2,200 Steps, One Badge Each
The climb's central ritual remains the same regardless of venue: participants ascend 2,200 steps, the equivalent of 110 stories, while wearing a badge bearing the name and photograph of a specific first responder who died on 9/11, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. That 110-story benchmark represents the height of the original World Trade Center towers and commemorates the 343 FDNY firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers, and 9 EMTs and paramedics killed in the 2001 attacks, the same University City Partners report notes.
Proceeds raised through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation's nationwide 9/11 stair climbs support line-of-duty survivor programs as well as the FDNY Counseling Services Unit, which provides long-term mental health care tied to the attacks and their aftermath.
A Ground Zero Veteran Now Leads Charlotte's Fire Marshal Office
Charlotte Fire Marshal Kevin Miller is an FDNY veteran who responded to Ground Zero as a firefighter on September 11, 2001, arriving between the collapses of the two towers and searching through debris before he was able to call home the following morning, according to the Charlotte Fire Department. His presence in Charlotte's current department leadership gives this year's climb a direct, personal thread back to that morning 25 years ago.
Ahead of the climb, Channel 9 WSOC-TV anchor Erica Bryant moderated a joint interview bringing together Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson, CMPD Chief Estella Patterson, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden and Medic's J.P. Peterson, according to the seed facts drawn from the Charlotte Fire Department's Facebook post. The conversation covered September 11's lasting impact on public safety and the upcoming stair climb, with the four officials representing Charlotte's major public safety branches speaking together about the lives lost and sacrifices made in 2001. Bryant's story is set to air next week.
Part of a Broader Charlotte Remembrance Tradition
The Charlotte 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb isn't the only local tribute tied to the anniversary. Charlotte also hosts the annual Tunnel to Towers Climb at Bank of America Stadium, which in April 2025 honored four local police officers killed in the line of duty during an April 2024 shooting in Charlotte, according to Spectrum News 1. Hoodline covered that eighth annual climb, which similarly used stair-climbing as a way to honor both national 9/11 history and Charlotte's own line-of-duty losses.
Downtown, the FF Steven Coakley Foundation plans its annual installation of 2,977 American flags at Romare Bearden Park, one flag for every victim killed in the 2001 attacks, according to Charlotte on the Cheap. Hoodline also recently reported on a 25th-anniversary memorial concert at St. Peter's Episcopal Church featuring a Ground Zero survivor priest, part of the same wave of remembrance events converging on Uptown Charlotte this September.
Together, the observances reflect how Charlotte's fire, police, sheriff's and medic agencies are using the 25th anniversary not just to look backward at 2001, but to stand together as a unified public safety community — and to honor the responders the city has lost far more recently.
