Sunday, June 03, 2012

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 161

Construction remains at a near standstill on the WTC Museum. The anticipated September 2012 deadline will be missed and it's looking like mid 2013 is the earliest that anyone should expect the museum to be opened. That's perhaps being optimistic considering the money involved and that the Port Authority and the Museum Board, which includes Mayor Mike Bloomberg are fighting over the development costs that differ by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Even if both sides are able to work out a deal, there's no word on whether entry fees that could be as high as $25 per person will be imposed to help cover the $50-$60 million annual operating costs. As it stands, Congress appears completely unwilling to foot that bill, even though this was the site of the worst terror attacks in world history and more than 3,000 people were killed in the attacks (and subsequently falling ill and dying of injuries sustained from working on the Pile).

Within the next few days, a federal officials will rule whether certain cancers will covered under the 9/11 Victim Compensation Package for first responders who have suffered a variety of health ailments since working in the rubble of the Twin Towers.

Despite the problems with the museum, and even a small fire at 1WTC (Freedom Tower), President Obama will be visiting 1WTC on June 14 to see the progress at the site first-hand.



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