WTC Museum Construction To Resume

After more than a year of delays, an agreement has finally been reached to resume the construction of the museum at the site of the former World Trade Center. The museum had been scheduled to open today.

In negotiations over the weekend, aides to Bloomberg and Cuomo resolved long-standing disputes over which government agencies would pay for the costs of the museum and which officials would oversee it. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey then agreed to the arrangement. Christie and Cuomo share control over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while Bloomberg heads the Sept. 11 foundation, which oversees the national memorial and museum at the former World Trade Center site and the annual commemoration. “I’m very gratified that on the eve of this important anniversary we are able to announce an agreement that will ensure the completion of the 9/11 museum,” Bloomberg said in a statement Monday night. He added that the agreement ensured that construction “will be restarted very soon and will not stop until the museum is completed.” The tentative resolution involves additional cash payments from the Sept. 11 foundation for construction costs, closer coordination among the parties and the creation of an advisory committee to resolve disputes.

RELATED: Last year I was invited to the museum's temporary office to donate the above drawing which I rescued from the front wall of a Chelsea elementary school one week after the attack. I've been keen to visit the museum to see how the drawing is presented in what I was told will be a rotating collection of artwork related to 9/11.