New York City Closing the 9/11 Tribute Memorial For Good
By Katherine Kloepping
After 16 years of being open, lower Manhattan’s 9/11 Tribute Museum announced their official closure due to loss of income.
The 9/11 Tribute Museum, formally known as the Tribute World Trade Center, opened in September of 2006. Part of the September 11th Families’ Association project, the Tribute Museum was created by those who lost their loved ones in the 9/11 attack. Creators of the Museum came together to join and support victims who had been effected by the September 11 attack.
With communication and proper representation, the 9/11 Tribute Museum centered itself around the intimate stories of individuals with any correspondence to the terrorist attack. Stories originated from, but not limited to, survivors, volunteers, fireman and rescue squads. The Museum offered guided tours, as well as stories and artifacts.
By providing these experiences, the 9/11 Tribute Museum gave survivors a chance to offer more information about the 9/11 attacks from an educational, and personal, point of view.
In correlation to the pandemic of 2020, the Tribute Museum was forced to temporarily close their doors. With the closure lasting six months, the Museum saw a great loss in income. John Nolte, Breitbart writer, quoted the co-founder and CEO of the September 11th Families’ Association:
“Two-thirds of our income revenue annually comes from our earned income from admissions,” Jennifer Adams-Webb, co-founder of the museum and the CEO of the September 11th Families’ Association stated. “We were completely closed for six months in 2020. We had been averaging 300,000 visitors a year … and last year we had a total of 26,000 visitors, it completely annihilated our earned income.”
“There’s no way we’re going to be able to dig out of this at this rate,” said Adams-Webb. “We need the state or the city to step in with other partners to be able to say, ‘We value you. We want to save this organization,’ but at this point, we can’t continue to dig into a hole.”
Despite the closure of the Tribute Museum building, the Museum will be “open” virtually. CNN reported, “The majority of the museum’s artifacts, videos and other items will be moved to the New York State Museum in Albany.”
With the Tribute Museum open virtually, the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks will live on through technology. The September attack will always be in our history and will always be remembered. By closing down the museum, many will miss the chance to have the experience going on tours and appreciating the artifacts in person.
Aspiring with the notion to never forget 9/11.
