Governor George E. Pataki today announced that his 2006-07 Executive Budget will earmark $80 million worth of funding for the Snohetta-designed  building located on the memorial quadrant of the World Trade Center site. The programming in the building will complement the Memorial and Memorial Museum and will be devoted to honoring the victims and heroes of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 and serving visitors to the Memorial and World Trade Center site.

“The World Trade Center Memorial has always been, and will always be, the centerpiece, heart, and soul of all our rebuilding efforts,” Governor Pataki said. “This spring, we will begin construction on the six-acre Memorial and Memorial Museum.  The memorial complex will be a powerful tribute that will tell the countless individual and collective stories of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001.  It will recognize the rescue and recovery efforts and the innumerable acts of heroism that emerged from the tragedy, and will ensure that all New Yorkers and the world know how this city, state, and nation came together in the face of enormous tragedy.  I am pleased to include $80 million in funding in my 2006-07 Executive Budget to fulfill our solemn obligation to the families of the heroes, friends, neighbors, and loved ones we lost, and create a unified and unforgettable visitor experience to honor their memory.”

The World Trade Center Memorial, ‘Reflecting Absence,’ features enormous graceful twin voids that will ensure that future generations will know where the Towers stood, and the names of each hero lost surrounding the cascading pools will ensure that we never forget each individual life taken. The Memorial Museum offers an historic and authentic experience focused on the events of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993.  The initial programming concepts for the museum have been developed by family members, residents, preservationists, and museum experts. It will contain information about the lives of the loved ones lost, and will convey the events of the day and the breathtaking, worldwide outpouring of support in the rescue and recovery efforts. The museum will also house a number of large scale and personal artifacts including providing access to the historic remnants of the site-- the bedrock of the Towers, the truncated box- beams of the original columns, and the slurry wall that held back the Hudson River despite all odds.

The Snohetta Building’s programming will complement the Memorial and Memorial Museum and create a seamless visitors experience. The building will house exhibition space related to the events of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 as well as visitors’ services. Programming for the building is still in the development phase. The building is being designed by Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta. Refined renderings of the Snohetta-designed building will be available in the upcoming weeks. The building, first revealed in concept in May of last year, is being refined to reduce the overall size of the building and increase the distance from the north tower footprint.

The Memorial and Memorial Museum construction is on schedule to begin in March of this year and open by September 11, 2009 as dictated by the Governor’s aggressive original timeline. There is nearly $10 billion worth of public and private investment underway on the World Trade Center site and in the surrounding area.  At the World Trade Center site the Santiago Calatrava-designed Transportation Hub is fully-funded and construction is underway, and is expected to be completed in 2009.  The Freedom Tower will also begin construction this spring and deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank Building, adjacent to the site, has begun and is expected to be finished by early 2007.