Public Presents Views on WTC Memorial

By Etta Sanders


Visitors should feel the horror. This was one piece of advice offered at a Sept. 19 workshop on the 100,000-square-foot memorial museum at the site of the World Trade Center.

		While the memorial itself will be a place of remembrance and contemplation, the memorial museum that will be tucked below ground between the tower footprints will seek to convey life at the towers, the day of the attack, the rescue and recovery effort and the stories of those who died and those who survived. The experience, said Jeff Howard, curatorial consultant for the memorial, should communicate "the immensity of the devastation and the enormity of the loss." The September workshop was the first of two being conducted by the Civic Alliance, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to gather public input into what should be included in the museum. A second workshop will be held on Oct. 11. (For more information go to www.civic-alliance.org. Public comments can also be submitted to the LMDC at www.renewnyc.com)
A report from the workshops will be available to the public and will also be given to the eventual museum director. The foundation is currently conducting a search to fill that job. The workshop began with a presentation of what the designers already envision: a journey through the museum will begin with an iconic artifact that will stand at the entrance, perhaps the trident shaped remnant of the tower façade or the battered brass sphere that stood in the trade center plaza. The next section will show life at the towers before Sept. 11, 2001. Visitors will then have a choice of paths, a so-called "immersion route," which will feature graphic images and the voices of survivors, or fact-based exhibits that will recount the events in a more informational way. Additional artifacts-from crushed vehicles to piles of keys recovered from the rubble -will be featured throughout exhibits of the recovery, life in the frozen zone, the outpouring of support from around the world, the efforts of the volunteers, the spontaneous makeshift memorials. At bedrock there will be a "library of memory" where family members of the victims can devote an album to tell of their lost loved ones. Before leaving the museum visitors can record their own stories and reactions. Some common threads ran through suggestion of the 41 workshop participants. The space must be adequate for the numbers of people who will want to move slowly through the exhibits to reflect on what they see. There should be room to allow for changing exhibits as perspectives change over time. Artifacts from the buildings and the people who worked there, died there and lived nearby should be displayed. The stories of survivors and residents should not be forgotten. And the museum should not shy away from powerful images. Suellen Johnson, an artist, said her group suggested using multi-media and even a smoke filled room to try and recreate the scene. "It's vital for the museum to be very effective in truly depicting the horrible events of the day," she said.