IFC will not have a place at the WTC Cultural Center

On September 28, Gov. George Pataki announced that the International Freedom Center (IFC) will not have a place at the cultural center planned for the World Trade Center site, saying that the events of 9/11 should be the sole focus of whatever cultural institution finds a home there.

"I strongly believe in this nation's core principle of freedom and I personally believe that the celebration of freedom is not inconsistent with the goals of memorializing our nearly 3,000 lost heroes," Pataki said in a statement issued that afternoon. "But freedom should unify us. This center does not." 

"Today there remains too much opposition, too much controversy over the programming of the IFC and we must move forward with our first priority, the creation of an inspiring memorial to pay tribute to our lost loved ones and tell their stories to the world," he continued. "Therefore the IFC cannot be located on the Memorial quadrant."

The governor's statement comes after months of controversy surrounding the center and its proposed programming, which aspired to help visitors look at freedom as an evolving world movement and better understand the events of 9/11 within that context. Opponents, including family members of some of the 9/11 victims, argued that the proposed programming could include anti-American exhibitions and that an exploration of the evolution of liberty around the world was not a suitable tribute to those who died on that day.

To help address the concerns of these opponents, Pataki and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), which oversees the development of the World Trade Center site, called for the IFC to submit a revised plan for programming that would address the criticisms it faced.

Pataki, in communicating his decision that the IFC cannot be a part of the memorial quadrant -- that is, the southwest corner of the trade center site that contains the tower footprints -- instructed the LMDC to work with the center to find another more suitable location. But a short time later, a statement issued by IFC executives Tom Bernstein, Peter Kunhardt, and Richard Tofel said, "We do not believe there is a viable alternative place for the IFC at the World Trade Center site. We consider our work, therefore, to have been brought to an end."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been a supporter of the public process designed to guide development of the WTC site, said in a statement, "Although I understand Governor Pataki's decision, I am disappointed that we were not able to find a way to reconcile the freedoms we hold so dear with the sanctity of the site."

The LMDC has now been charged with finding a more suitable tenant for the cultural center. LMDC Chairman John Whitehead issued a statement expressing his disappointment that a resolution agreeable to all was not found, but, he continued, "We will move forward with the centerpiece of our efforts, creating an inspiring memorial to those we have lost."