Tickets go on sale today for the long-awaited museum dedicated to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, which will open to the public on 21 May.
The days preceding the opening will be marked by a six-day dedication period, during which the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Centre site in New York will remain open for 24 hours a day and only those directly affected by the attacks – families of victims, survivors and rescue and recovery workers – will be allowed to visit.
The museum includes two main exhibitions: "In Memoriam", which pays tribute to the 2,983 people killed on 9/11 and in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre; and a historical exhibition telling the story of what happened during and after the attacks. This history will be told through monumental and personal artefacts, photographs, audio and video footage, first-person testimonials and personal possessions and memorabilia.
The ambitious project occupies 111,000 square feet deep inside the "archaeological heart" of the World Trade Centre site. Davis Brody Bond are the architects of the underground museum, while the entry pavilion has been designed by Oslo and New York based firm Snøhetta. To enter the museum, visitors will descend a ramp to the subterranean site.
It has also been revealed that New York City plans to create a new resting place in the museum for the unidentified remains of victims from the attacks, which will be moved there later this year. The "remains repository", which won't be accessible to the general public, will be located behind a wall engraved with a quote by Virgil reading: "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio, said in a statement: "The 9/11 Memorial Museum is for all of us. It is for those of us who witnessed the events, either with our own eyes or on TV, and are still struggling to make sense of it. It is for future generations who will first encounter 9/11 as history, but who must come to understand it as something real and terrible, something that must never happen again."
He added: "But most of all, it is for the survivors, the families, the rescue and recovery workers, the first responders. We thank them for sharing the stories with the world, so that we may learn from them."
This week's announcement of an opening date comes after repeated delays caused by funding disputes, construction problems and damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. It had originally been hoped the museum would open in 2011 – on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
Some have also criticised the $24 ticket price (although there will be no admission charge for relatives of victims, or for rescue and recovery workers).
The World Trade Centre memorial plaza, which opened on 11 September 2011 and features two fountains at the original base of the Twin Towers, will continue to be free to enter. More than five million people visited the plaza last year.
