950 Acres Acquired by Flight 93 Memorial

The Families of Flight 93 are now one step closer to a permanent memorial, as 950 acres of land formerly owned by PBS Coals has been transferred to the California-based organization. Patrick White, vice president of Families of Flight 93, signed the deed Saturday, making this the single largest amount of land acquired by the group to date. The closing for the property will be later this week. National Park Superintendent Joanne Hanley says acquiring the remaining land -- including a 274-acre plot owned by Svonavec, Inc. -- is the next step in a long process of memorial construction. "We have to finish the construction drawings, and finalize all of our permits, and wrap up the fundraising for this first phase of the memorial, and come the end of the year, we should be and will be ready for writing a construction contract," says Hanley. In addition to the new land, a new rendering of the memorial-to-be is available at the National Parks Service's website.