SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- The federal government says Friday is the deadline to get land needed for the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County without using eminent domain.
National Park Service acting Director Dan Wenk said land owners and the government have been working together all week to get the transaction done without seizing the land.
At least one deal is almost done. Christine Williams says she's just waiting to sign paperwork for the sale of her family's land with a log cabin that they had been planning to use for relaxing and retirement. She wouldn't name the price, but she says it takes into account that her family must find another place.
Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
said the government could still use eminent domain if deals weren't worked out by Friday. Land value would then be decided in court.
"The landowners will be treated fairly," Salazar said at the time. "There will be fair compensation provided. That's fair compensation based on fair market value."
Until Friday, the National Park Service had planned to seize the remaining land that's needed for a $58 million, 2,200-acre memorial and national park at the crash site -- an extremely rural area 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Slideshow: Pictures Of The Flight 93 Temporary MemorialCurrent plans for the memorial include a walkway and a wall which would follow the plane's flight path to the crash site. Visitors would also be able to, for the first time, view the crash site from just a few feet away.
United Airlines Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when hijackers took control and diverted it, likely hoping to crash into the White House or Capitol. The official
9/11 Commission report said the hijackers took the plane down when passengers tried to gain control of the cockpit.
The government and the victims' families want the memorial in place for the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
Web Sites: - Flight 93 National Memorial Plans
- Donate To Help Build It
Previous WTAE Stories: - June 5, 2009: U.S. Gov't Backs Off Seizure Plan, Says Flight 93 Landowners 'Will Be Treated Fairly'
- May 29, 2009: Land Acquired For Flight 93 Memorial Near Shanksville
- May 7, 2009: Government To Condemn Land For Flight 93 Memorial
- April 7, 2009: Deal Reached For Flight 93 Land
- March 11, 2009: Funding Announced For Flight 93 National Memorial
- February 20, 2009: Flight 93 Memorial Promised By 9/11/11
- November 1, 2008: Park Service Forms Group To Promote Flight 93 Site
- July 4, 2008: Flight 93 Memorial Visited On July Fourth
- May 3, 2008: 9-11 Memorial Draws More Protest
- February 2, 2008: Flight 93 Memorial Angers Some
- September 10, 2007: Somerset Gets Sept. 11 Exhibit On 6-Year Anniversary Of Attacks
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