New place picked for WTC sphere that endured 9/11

(AP) NEW YORK - A spherical sculpture that endured the Sept. 11 attacks at the World Trade Center is close to getting a temporary new home that will keep it in the public eye, officials said Friday, but they wouldn't say where just yet.

Seen as a tribute to survival since it emerged largely intact from the rubble at ground zero, the bronze-and-steel sphere has been in lower Manhattan's Battery Park for a decade. But it needs to move to make way for a park renovation.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that a new location would be announced next week. The port had considered storing the sculpture in an airport hangar, but Executive Director Pat Foye said Friday he was committed to keeping the piece on public view.

"We have worked tirelessly to find a new, accessible public space for this important symbol of hope amid devastation," he said in a statement.

The agency wouldn't say more.

The 25-foot-tall, 45,000-pound sculpture became an interim memorial for months after the twin towers collapsed around it. A year after the attacks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai and officials from about 90 foreign nations at its base to light an eternal flame.

Meanwhile, the agency is continuing to look for a permanent place for the sphere. Some Sept. 11 victims' family members have urged officials to return it to its original spot and incorporate it into the 9/11 memorial, but it hasn't been included in the memorial plans.