9/11 Memorial Attendance Still Rising As Construction Halted At Museum
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The 9/11 Museum was scheduled to open in September, but that will not happen.
WCBS 880's Rich Lamb On The Story
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A dispute between the Port Authority and the memorial foundation has stopped construction.
But memorial and museum president Joe Daniels said his staff hasn't stopped working.
"We're currently working hard to continue to build the museum in the places where we can, off-site, or developing the exhibitions or collecting the thousands of artifacts that we are responsible for collecting," he told WCBS 880 reporter Rich Lamb.
He added that they have not rested for a minute.
Daniels said they're prepared to resume construction.
"The designs for the exhibits are finished and are being fabricated. So, when we get this dispute resolved, we're ready to finish building it and move the exhibits in," he said.
As for the 9/11 Memorial, visitor attendance is constantly increasing.
They've hailed from every state in the union and from 170 countries around the world and have bested estimates by more than one million.
"It's been a tremendously gratifying experience to see the number of visitors this year. We are at just about four and a half million people. We're sitting about two weeks away from the 9/11 memorial. This surpassed all our expectations to have this many people come," Daniels told Lamb.
Daniels said last year they had thought the ongoing construction of the new World Trade Center might suppress attendance, but that didn't happen.
"It's really become a place that when people come to the United States and they come to New York, they're coming to the 9/11 Memorial and we couldn't be happier about it," he said.
He called the actual numbers "amazing."
Have you been to the 9/11 Memorial? What did you think? Sound off in the comments section below.
