SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- Those who visit the temporary Flight 93 memorial site in Somerset County might have to place their memorials elsewhere come September.

A property dispute could force the entire memorial, which includes a stone placed there by President George W. Bush and millions of flags and hats from all over the world, to be moved off the land it currently sits on in Shanksville if the park service and the property owner can't come to an agreement.

Family members of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, crash were so moved by the memorabilia that was placed there shortly after that they decided to raise more than $50 million to build a permanent memorial.

"When you people look out there, we see the place where our loved ones remains remain," said Sandy Felt, whose husband died in the crash.

The entire memorial, including a visitors' center, will have to be moved by Sept. 5 because property owner Michael Svonavek is canceling the lease he had with the park service.

Svonavek said the victims' families will still be welcome, along with the public, but he said he paid for insurance and security around the memorial for seven years at a price tag of $10,000 a month and now wants the park service to make him a decent offer on the land.

Loved ones of those who died said they tried getting involved when Svonavek told them the land is worth $50 million, but they were only prepared to offer about $750,000.

As of this week, the families own the 930 acres across Skyline Road, where they might have to move the memorial unless a new offer is made and accepted in the next few weeks.

Svonavek said he's hopeful an agreement can be reached.

The permanent memorial was expected to be completed by Sept. 11, 2010.

---

Related Links:
More County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---

---

Related Links:
More County News

Get RSS | E-Mail Alerts

---