SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — For architect Paul Murdoch, the sight and sounds of the Tower of Voices signal his vision for a more than $60 million memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 93 is almost fully realized.
But as Mr. Murdoch returned to the 2,200-acre park over the weekend, the Los Angeles architect said he was surrounded by reminders that the moment Sunday was only the beginning of life for the park itself.
Much like the 12-year process he’s undertaken to bring his concept of the site to life, the Flight 93 National Memorial will be ever-evolving in the months, years and decades to come.
“This is still a very young-looking park ... you can see the trees that were planted around the field of honor filling out and really taking shape — giving it the definition that’s so important to the design,” the Los Angeles-based architect said.
And that type of natural growth, over time, is “vital to all of these spaces,” he added, noting many other orchestrated plantings still have years to go before the sites themselves they decorate will be in full bloom.
Along with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Murdoch Architects’ design for the national park was selected by federal officials to develop the park in 2005.
Mr. Murdoch’s plan from the outset was to bring life back to a stretch of solemn “hallowed ground” that was little more than an industry-ravaged strip mine site.
Over the past eight years, a visitors center and Memorial Plaza have opened to the public. Hundreds of trees and other vegetation — much of it plants that change with their seasons — have been added, too.
“It’s gratifying to see it come this far,” Mr. Murdoch said. “But there’s still work to do to finish everything.”
That begins with the Tower of Voices, he said.
It was dedicated Sunday in a ceremony that featured friends and family of the 40 men and women who died in the crash after terrorists hijacked the plane on Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Murdoch said it was built to both literally and figuratively set the tone for the park, serving as the first landmark visitors will see once they enter the property — and the first they’ll hear, too.
He said it’s undergone several unplanned alterations during its development, with its curved steel walls modified to become more “porous” to allow wind to flow more freely through the tower.
In doing so, it creates more turbulence to activate its 4 to 10 foot-long metal wind chimes, he said.
Its open side, which faces the memorial’s plaza, was widened, too, to catch wind more effectively, and some of its chimes are being realigned.
Thirty-two of its 40 wind chimes are still being fine-tuned, Mr. Murdoch said.
That work is expected to be complete sometime this fall.
Landscaping around the site, as well as the park’s visitors center, must also be completed before the park is complete, he added.
Sunday’s dedication came two days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. President Donald Trump is expected to attend that memorial ceremony Tuesday in Shanksville, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The Associated Press contributed.
First Published: September 11, 2018, 12:36 a.m.
