SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he's optimistic that deals will be made for land needed for the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County without the government invoking eminent domain.
On Tuesday, Salazar met with landowners near the 9/11 crash site in Shanksville and said agreements had been reached with most of them to sell their land at fair market value. Negotiations with the others are continuing.
The National Park Service had set a deadline for deals to be in place to buy all of the necessary land for a permanent memorial, which the government has pledged to build before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
While the deadline has passed, negotiations are ongoing and the government has made no announcement that it intends to seize the land.
Slideshow: Pictures Of The Temporary Flight 93 MemorialUnited Airlines Flight 93 was taken over by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed in a field in an extremely rural part of Somerset County, about 65 miles outside of Pittsburgh. All passengers and crew members died, as did the hijackers.
The official
9/11 Commission report said the hijackers took the plane down when passengers tried to gain control of the cockpit.
Current 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.
Web Sites: - Flight 93 National Memorial Plans
- Donate To Help Build It
Previous WTAE Stories: - June 12, 2009: Land Sale Deadline Looms For Flight 93 Memorial
- 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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