The memorial being built in a Pennsylvania field to the passengers and crew who died on United Airlines Flight 93 during the Sept. 11 attacks will be only about 40 percent finished by the time of the ribbon cutting on the 10th anniversary in 2011.
An Associated Press story says the memorial at the crash site is being built in three phases as a way to manage the funding for the new national park, with the first phase being done in three parts. The first part is not expected to cost more than $22.5 million and will be 40 percent of the project. That section will be ready by 2011, providing "a complete visitor experience" and able to accommodate the estimated 250,000 visitors annually, according to the National Park Service.
For more on the memorial project or to make a donation, go to the Flight 93 National Memorial.
The National Park Service also has a Web site on the memorial that includes a detailed description and artist renderings of such features as The Tower of Voices -- a 93-foot-high structure containing 40 large wind chimes "evocative of, and a tribute to, the sound of the wind and voices aboard the plane during its final moments" -- and The Field of Honor, an existing large bowl-shaped area that forms the heart of the memorial and park.
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