Long Island is one step closer to erecting its own September 11th Memorial after the Long Island 9/11 Committee presented five final memorial architecture plans yesterday.

The memorial, which will be built at Farmingdale State University of New York, will honor Long Islanders who died in the terror attack at the World Trade Center and those who helped others.

“This is something long over due,” said Bob De Silva, president of the Long Island 9/11 Memorial Committee and a retired New York City fire fighter.  “This is a Long Island memorial; this isn’t just a town trying to do something.  It’s getting people from Riverhead to Valley Stream to come here.”

The committee is made up of town supervisors, fire fighters and community leaders.  De Silva said the project will cost between $8 and $11 million.

The second phase of the memorial project will include renovating Farmingdale State’s historic Cutler Hall into a resource center for family members, survivors, and anyone seeking information about September 11th and its aftermath.

The five finalists, all designs by Long Island-based firms, were chosen from 14 entries.  Each architect was charged with creating a memorial space on the7-acre site that includes a 12-foot piece of steel, salvaged from Ground Zero and donated by the Widows and Victims Families Association.

A design from Burton, Behrendt and Smith, of Patchogue, proposed a reflecting pool with a raised map of Long Island and spinnaker sails with symbolic masts fixed above each town that experienced a loss during the attack.

Flynn-Scott Architects, P.C. in Southampton, suggested erecting 383 columns on the open land.  Each column would represent a Long Islander killed during the attack, with the columns’ varied heights representing the victim’s ages.

Frank Faliano, president of Frank Faliano Design and Construction in Centerport, decided to transform the space into a Memorial Park to the shape of Long Island, reflects its topography with walking paths that mimic the LIE.

Architect Patricia M. O’Neill, of Plandome Manor, submitted a plan for a living time line that would take visitors on a tour of the September 11th events.

And Retnauer Design Associates in St.James, included a “Wall of Acknowledgement,” with engraved places of organizations and individuals who helped after September 11th.