Summary
A visitor education center planned near the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, is set to take a major step forward this summer, with organizers expecting to break ground as early as Sept. 10, according to Joseph Kornhoff, executive director of the Pentagon Memorial Fund. Kornhoff said the center’s construction would begin shortly after the planned groundbreaking and is aimed at completion by mid-2029.
The project has been delayed several times, Kornhoff said, and the schedule depends on multiple factors. Still, he said the organization has been working on programming and exhibit concepts for the center and is preparing a permanent venue to tell the story of Sept. 11 and the people involved in the response to the attack at the Pentagon.
As designed, the new facility would be located about 200 yards southwest and across Washington Boulevard from the existing memorial, which opened in 2008 and draws more than a million visitors each year. Kornhoff said the land became available due to a reconfiguration of land and roadways tied to the Arlington National Cemetery expansion project.
Kornhoff said the center would provide dedicated parking and drop-off areas and pedestrian improvements to connect visitors to the memorial, along with internal spaces such as a staging area for learning more about the memorial and a break room for docents. Organizers also planned an event space that would be intended to help cover operating expenses and keep the center free of charge.
The center would include permanent exhibit space focused on the Sept. 11 attacks, including first-responders from across Arlington and the region who converged on the Pentagon after hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the building. Kornhoff said the fund has worked with victims, families, survivors and members of the first-responders community to map out an educational experience.
“Working with the victims, families, survivors, and individuals from the first-responders community, we have mapped out an educational experience that will not only be informative, but impactful,” Kornhoff told ARLnow. He also said the fund used consultants to help ensure the exhibits provide what visitors want to see.
Kornhoff said a Sept. 10 groundbreaking would come one day before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, which included the Pentagon and resulted in 184 deaths in the Pentagon building and aboard a hijacked American Airlines jet. He said the center aims to serve future generations as well, noting that by the expected 2029 opening date, more than a quarter of the U.S. population will have been born after the attacks.
On approvals and funding, Kornhoff said the plan has support from multiple federal and local bodies, including the National Capital Planning Commission, the Department of Defense and Arlington National Cemetery. He said Arlington County Board support is in place and that a $12 million appropriation request is still moving through Congress.
Kornhoff also pointed to federal lawmakers’ backing, saying Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Rep. Don Beyer have advocated for the project. He said state government funding is anticipated and that Del. Patrick Hope has committed to pursuing an appropriation during the upcoming General Assembly session, with a Senate champion, adding that other local lawmakers have supported the effort as well.
Kornhoff said the project has also received $5 million in support from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, along with contributions from Amazon, Accenture and Transurban. He said the education center is intended to provide permanent space to preserve the legacy of those lost while keeping the exhibits able to evolve over time, including the possibility of traveling exhibits from other 9/11 sites.
“While the exhibits may periodically change, and include traveling exhibits from other 9/11 sites, what won’t change is finally etching into the granite of time the legacy of those lost by providing a long overdue permanent home,” Kornhoff said.