Many will visit the National 9/11 Memorial in New York City for the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but the museum, which was supposed to be open by this anniversary remains closed.
The National September 11 Museum was supposed to be open by the eleventh anniversary of the attacks , after the 9/11 memorial opened last year. However, due to a funding dispute, the museum remains closed on this anniversary.
Completion of the museum came to a halt this year due to a financial dispute between the 9/11 Memorial Foundation chaired by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Port Authority, which owns the site and is controlled by Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The two sides disagreed about who should pay for the costs of the museum, which may cost an estimated $60 million a year to operate. This funding battle halted the completion of the museum, which was set to complete the 9/11 Memorial that opened last year.
This year, 4.6 million people from over 170 countries visited the memorial which contains two reflecting pools that mark the footprints of the Twin Towers. These pools are surrounded by walls that contain the names of those who died in the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 and 1993. However the visitors may not understand the full purpose of the memorial as the museum explaining the events remains closed.
Family members of victims who died in the tragedy are frustrated over the fact that the museum is still not open 11 years later. The museum would provide information that could help explain the attacks to those who weren't there and children who were too young to understand or weren't even born.
The museum would include exhibits that document the events that took place on and after Sept. 11, 2001. It will include the faces of those who were killed and artifacts and personal items such as a wedding ring and a watch that stopped on 9/11, which were found in the rubble. However, visitors cannot see these items as the museum remains closed for now.
On Monday night, on the eve of the eleventh anniversary, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo were able to come to an agreement about the funding of the project.
"By ensuring that no additional public funds are spent to complete the Memorial and Museum, today's agreement puts in place a critical and long overdue safeguard to finally protect tollpayers and taxpayers from bearing further costs, and, at the same time, put the project on a path for completion," Cuomo said in a statement released Monday night.
Completion of the 9/11 Museum will resume again, but it may not be complete by the next anniversary. It may not be complete until 2014 at this rate.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
