Ground Zero Museum

[wonderboynj]

I realize that this is a capitalist country, but don't you think this is a little ridiculous?

Alice Greenwald has just been named as the director of the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum. She currently is one of the top curators at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Her salary will be $300,000 a year.

Now, I have no idea how much curators at museums make, let alone "top" curators. It just seems a bit excessive to me, especially since the memorial I'm sure will be funded at least partially with federal dollars.

Comments

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I'm a little mystified as to what the museum could possibly show. How many times can you play back the same loop of the planes crashing into the towers, their collapse & the clearing of the wreckage?

It's worth a memorial but a museum with a $300k curator seems a little excessive to commemorate a single event, esp. when the people being memorialized were essentially victims rather than active participants.

My worst fear is that it will be turned into a "holy" shrine in the same vein as the Alamo, where one goes to worship martyrs rather than understand the event and its context.

[wonderboynj.livejournal.com]

According to the NY Post they plan to include such things as actual pieces of the buildings, and cars and rescue vehicles that were damaged in the attacks.

I think they need to do something along the lines of the Vietnam War memorial (which I've not seen in person) and leave it at that.

I like the idea they talked about originally (and may still be using it) of having two wading pools that fit the footprints of where the two towers once stood. So people can go there and reflect and remember or pay tribute in their own ways.

Lots of people died on the Civil War battlefields as well, what kind of memorials and museums did we build there?

[thornyc.livejournal.com]

Lots of people died on the Civil War battlefields as well, what kind of memorials and museums did we build there?

Hundreds if not thousands, from the austere to the impressive. To see for yourself, Gettysburg is only a three hours' drive away.

[nipper-dawg.livejournal.com]

And Gettysburg is sadly fighting for its life. Not so much the batttleground itself, but the surrounding area, So far Gettysburg is winning, but for how long i dont know. There are more battle grounds that are not preserved.
A curator is to expand the collection of a museum, i really dont see how much work one can do as a Curator.
Personally i thnnk the WTC should just be bought by the federal overment, filled in, have sod and benches and trees planted and be done with it.
There is way too much fighting for way too much money.
If Disney or six flags could not build in Gettysburg (yes one of them wanted to) why should anyone build at the WTC.

[wonderboynj.livejournal.com]

Who actually owns the battlefields at Gettysburg? I agree that they should just give up the idea of rebuilding office space at the WTC, they are just motivated by the almighty dollar anyway.

Do we really need millions of square feet of office space in downtown manhattan?

[nipper-dawg.livejournal.com]

Gettysburg National Monument is owned by the National Parks Service. It is considered a Burial ground. 51000 people were killed or injured there. The struggle is the surrounding areas which are privatly owned going commercial. The NPS does not have the funds to buy the surrounding properties.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

[wonderboynj.livejournal.com]

I'd like to check it out sometime actually, but it's not on my high priority list yet. :)

[mr-wes.livejournal.com]

Yeah and the $26 million the Pentagon is raising to build a memorial there. $26 million? Not to belittle the lives that were lost but that money could be better spent elsewhere.

[wonderboynj.livejournal.com]

Compared to the billions we're spending in spreading democracy, to the feds $26 million is pocket change.

[mr-wes.livejournal.com]

Too true.