Rising from the ashes of the former buildings is the new One World Trade Center.
day from all 50 states and around the world. The 110,000-square-foot exhibition portion of the museum is mostly located beneath the memorial plaza and contains more than 67,500 items, including 17,200 artifacts, and more than 44,000 print and digital images. Physical remnants — including a New York Fire Department Ladder 3 firetruck missing its cab, personal items like watches and shoes, photos that once sat on desks, battered fire helmets — are numerous. The survivors’ stairs and “The Last Column” are unforgettable to visitors because of their poignancy. The Vesey Street stairs served as an escape route for hundreds of people. The column, a beam used by rescuers as a landmark to find missing people and which became covered with memorial tributes, was the last item removed during the recovery and cleanup effort. The messages written on it came to symbolize the determination and dedication of those who participated in those efforts. Many visitors pause for more than a few moments at the blue-tiled wall where the Roman poet Virgil is quoted, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time,” in a powerful 60-foot eulogy across Memorial Hall. Blacksmith Tom Joyce made each of the 15-inch-high letters from steel appropriated from the wreckage of the towers. Behind the quote, the site-specific art installation titled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning” by artist Spencer Finch was particularly haunting. The piece contains 2,983 watercolor squares representing the victims. Memorial Hall, where each and every victim is remembered with photos, biographies, and voice recordings from family members, has a powerful impact on visitors. And it’s where the quiet sobs are most often heard, especially as voicemail recordings are played. Many victims inside the World Trade Center and on Flight 93, 62 DeSoto
