More than 300K to visit 9/11 memorial soon
Construction continues on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site. (Aug. 24, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
More than 300,000 people from the United States and 65 other countries have made reservations to visit the National September 11 Memorial Plaza after the 10th anniversary ceremony, officials said Wednesday.
The above-ground site at Ground Zero will be in continuous operation after Sept. 11, when it will be open only for families of the victims of the terror attacks, as well a select group of political leaders including President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, said Joe Daniels, head of the memorial and museum.
"The memorial will be open every day thereafter," Daniels told reporters during a briefing about the progress of construction.
While the Memorial Plaza is in the middle of construction, its main components -- two pools built within the original footprints of the Twin Towers -- will be open. Each pool, which Daniels said is about 1 acre in size, is surrounded by 30-foot waterfalls on each side. Names of victims of both the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, will be listed on bronze parapets surrounding the pools.
Because a construction site surrounds the memorial, the reservation system was set up to limit access to 1,500 visitors at any one time. While visitors won't have a time limit for their stay, it is expected that most will remain at the memorial for about 45 minutes, said Michael Frazier, a museum spokesman.
A series of public service announcements may begin running on television as early as Thursday to promote the memorial's public opening and direct visitors to the website 911memorial.org where they can make free reservations for passes to the site.
The Memorial Plaza will eventually contain 400 trees. Currently, it contains some trees and the famous callery pear tree, now known as the "Survivor Tree," which was damaged in the collapse of the Twin Towers, and then rescued and nursed back to health. The plaza sits atop a seven-story below-grade museum facility currently under construction and expected to open on Sept. 11, 2012.
The NYPD said it plans to have about 250 police officers trained and ready for duty for the memorial site when it opens. Eventually, more than 700 cops will be assigned to the entire complex, said police.
VISITOR INFORMATION
People who want to visit the memorial canreserve tickets by going to its website, 911memorial.org
For groups of 10 or more, visit the group information page on the website or call 212-266-5200.
