The Uniformed Firefighters' Association withdrew its support last week from the organization responsible for turning Ground Zero into a memorial site and visitor's center.
The union's announcement came just as a major fundraising initiative for the project was about to begin.
UFA President Stephen J. Cassidy said union members found the current design unacceptable because it put two cultural centers in close proximity to the footprints of the Twin Towers.
U‘Not Playing 3rd Fiddle’
We must never forget that 343 firefighters perished during the attacks," he said. "This was the largest civilian rescue operation of its kind, and its victims must be at the forefront of whatever memorial is cast--not forced to play third fiddle."
The idea of turning the lower Manhattan site into a memorial surfaced shortly after Sept. 11, and the UFA was one of the first unions to endorse the concept.
But now that it's seen finalized blueprints that include a Drawing Center and International Freedom Center adjacent to the underground memorial museum, the union's not prepared to do any fundraising for the project.
Lynn Rasic, spokeswoman for the WTC Memorial Foundation that's overseeing the site development, said her organization was "deeply saddened" by the UFA's decision.
"The Foundation's first priority is devoted to raising funds for the memorial and museum dedicated to Sept.11. We hope that the [Lower Manhattan Development Corporation} will work with the cultural institutions and the family members to resolve the concerns at the site." she said in a written statement. "In the meantime, the Foundation has a massive fundraising effort to undertake and we need to start now to ensure that the memorial will get built."
Some family members of those who died on 9/11 have also voiced concerns about the two cultural centers, saying they might display exhibits that could be construed as anti-American and detract from the memorial museum.
The LMDC, charged with rebuilding the 16-acre site and constructing the 1,776 foot tall Freedom Tower, recently met with the International Freedom Center and asked its directors to be more specific about potential exhibits. It gave the IFC until Sept. 23 to placate dissatisfied family members and come up with a set of finalized plans.
The Drawing Gallery, which has in the past shown pieces in its Soho-based gallery that some perceived as anti-American, withdrew from the project last week.
Space to Remember
The WTC Memorial Foundation, which handles all the fundraising for the project, said two theater companies and a performing arts complex will be located across the street from Ground Zero.
Filling the footprints of the collapsed Twin Towers will be an open memorial called "Reflecting Absence." It will hold a waterfall cascading into two large, recessed pools, surrounded by a field of trees.
The UFA had no objection, to the performing arts complex going up across the street, but said it felt strongly that the actual memorial site needed to be a place where family members, colleagues and others could come to mourn and remember.
The WTC Memorial Foundation said plans include a private room where family members and others can get away from the general public. For the UFA, however, that wasn't enough.
"Just as the Pearl Harbor Memorial serves as a remembrance to our American soldiers who died Dec. 7, 1941 at the hands of an unprovoked attack on our nation," said Mr. Cassidy, "the WTC memorial must be focused on reflecting what happened here in New York on Sept. 11, 2001."
 |
