The Battle For Ground Zero, Part XV

Has the LMDC and IFC backed down over their plan to have the IFC built on the Ground Zero site?

According to the New York Post, that's exactly what is going on.

Officials are searching for new locations — some away from Ground Zero — to house a pair of controversial cultural centers slated for construction next to the 9/11 memorial, it was revealed yesterday.
"We're making one last look around the site to see where it is feasible," said John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., referring to the hunt for homes for the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center.

The officials are looking "within the 16 acres" of the World Trade Center "and beyond," he said at an LMDC board meeting.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has asked him to look for a different space for the two centers, Whitehead said.

Interestingly, there is one site where the IFC and Drawing Center could be placed nearby that will soon be under LMDC control - the Deutsche Bank building. That building was heavily damaged by falling debris from the collapsing towers, and has been vacant ever since. It is supposed to be demolished to make way for a security portal for the rest of the WTC site. It is possible that a structure could be built in that area to house the Drawing Center and IFC, though I would argue that neither group is worthy of inclusion anywhere in the LMDC plans.

Meanwhile, the war of words continues to heat up between those who don't want the IFC or Drawing Center involved and John Whitehead, who is the head of the LMDC:

Whitehead, meanwhile, took aim yesterday at three directors on the foundation's board who have publicly criticized the proposed cultural projects.

"The misrepresentations they have offered have done serious damage," he said without naming names. "The public is confused about the elements of the site."

Monika Iken, Debra Burlingame and Lee Ielpi — each of whom lost a family member on 9/11 — have opposed the cultural centers.

The public has "been told that the campaign is to 'take back the memorial' — as if it ever went away," Whitehead said in an apparent reference to the critics' Take Back the Memorial campaign.

Last night, Burlingame accused Whitehead of having violated the memorial board's code of conduct, unanimously adopted this week.

"It is regrettable that the ink is barely dry on the code . . . [yet] the chairman would slander three of the board members while at the same trying to muzzle us," she said.

The Post's Editorial Page slams Whitehead and Pataki for allowing this farce to continue. Their position is echoed by a letter penned by Republican Representatives Vito Fossella, Peter King and John Sweeney.

COUNT us among the large number of observers outraged at the thought that a museum at Ground Zero would tell a story unrelated to the events of that tragic day. And the statements to date from the International Freedom Center have not put that outrage to rest.
The most prominent critics have been some 9/11 family members — which is entirely appropriate. Though the center is supposed to represent the ideals of freedom and liberty, it's to be established in the hallowed location of Ground Zero. Those who lost loved ones must have an integral voice in this process.

But all New Yorkers were touched in one way or another by what happened on 9/11, and as federal representatives, we have a duty to ensure that the tax dollars being used to support such a project reflect the true spirit of our nation's ideals.