911 museum deal revives debate over remains
Artifacts from the collection of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum are displayed at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site on Vesey Street. Seen here are gloves, pick ax, Ground Zero access badge, American flag pin with St. Anthony medal, and a police helmet with mask that are a gift of Det. David Brink of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit. (July 16, 2012) Credit: Charles Eckert
A deal to restart construction on the 9/11 Museum by the end of September is reviving opposition to a planned below-ground repository holding the remains of victims of the terrorist attacks.
"This is sacrilege," said Sally Regenhard, whose 28-year-old son Christian was a probationary firefighter who died responding to the attacks. "It is outrageous. It's really devastating for myself and the other family members, that after 11 years our loved ones cannot rest in peace and we cannot rest in peace."
Regenhard and many other families who lost relatives in the attacks see the memorial as a place of reverence. A proper burial site for unidentified remains is above ground on the Memorial plaza, they said.
Many also oppose any funding of the museum through souvenir and concession sales.
"They have a $60 million operating budget and how are they going to raise those funds?" said their attorney, Norman Siegel. "They're going to sell trinkets. They're gonna have a café . . . It's inappropriate."
Officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center declined to comment, saying they were focused on commemorating the 11th anniversary of the attacks.
The families filed a lawsuit requesting contact information for relatives of the victims to poll them on how they would like the remains to be handled. Last year, a judge denied the request, saying it would violate the relatives' privacy.
Not all families oppose having their relatives' remains below ground. Monica Iken, who lost her husband, Michael, in the attacks, had no problem with the plan, adding that designs for a below-ground repository were approved with families' input as far back as 2002.
"We all sat there and signed off on it and said that we wanted all the remains to be interred at this site," said Iken, who sat on the families advisory council.
In a summary of their outreach efforts, the September 11 Memorial & Museum said the plan to house the remains in a below-ground repository has been in place for a decade after it was approved by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's Families Advisory Council.
In a statement, Mayor Bloomberg's office said the advisory committee that will be created to help with the restarted construction of the museum will hear families' concerns.
The eight-member committee will comprise two appointees by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, two by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and four by the Memorial.
With Jennifer Barrios, Anthony Destefano and Chau Lam
