9/11 memorial to include chamber holding remains

NEW YORK – Family members of Sept. 11 victims will be able to enter a private room in the World Trade Center memorial and look through a window at a chamber storing more than 9,000 pieces of unidentified human remains, development officials said.

In a “contemplation room” next door, the public will be able to pay respects to an empty, symbolic vessel. Development officials disclosed more information about the design this week as they sought construction bids for the memorial.

The climate-controlled, low-humidity storage chamber for the victims’ remains is one of several rooms to be built where the trade center’s north tower stood, said Anne Papageorge, who oversees memorial development for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

The remains will not be visible from the window, Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner’s office, said Wednesday.

Some family members who follow the trade center rebuilding process said they would have preferred that the victims’ remains be entombed in the larger contemplation room.

“Why should the public pay tribute to an empty box?” asked Edie Lutnick, whose brother was killed Sept. 11, 2001.

Papageorge said that the symbolic vessel isn’t large enough to hold the 9,100 unidentified remains and that it wasn’t possible to keep it climate-controlled. She said the medical examiner’s office also needs easier access to the storage chamber in case it has to retrieve remains.

So far, 1,594 of the 2,749 people who died at the trade center have been identified. The medical examiner’s office has said more sophisticated DNA testing may allow additional identifications later. The remains are sealed in refrigerated plastic pouches at the chief medical examiner’s office, Borakove said.

The viewing room will be available only to family members, who can access the area by private elevator.