9/11 museum sets admission fee at $24

Price on the high end of original estimate; memorial and museum take up half of the 16-acre World Trade Center site

The National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum
The National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum

The National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum will charge adults a $24 admission fee, the museum announced Thursday. Museum officials previously said that the entrance fee would be between $20 and $25 to help cover the high costs of running the institution.

Families directly impacted by the terrorist attacks can enter free of charge, and there will also be free hours for the general public each week, museum officials added.

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“The 9/11 Memorial does not yet receive government support for ongoing operations as many other important museums of our national history do,” Joseph Daniels, president of the museum and memorial, said in a statement seen by Crain’s. Daniels added that the ticket price would help “fulfill our obligation to commemorate and preserve the history of 9/11. It will also enable educational programming that will teach the nature of and responsibility for the special freedoms we have.”

The museum, which opens this spring, is looking to cover up to 70 percent of its $63 million budget through revenues such as ticket sales and gift shop sales, according to Crain’s. The rest will be solicited through fundraising from both the private sector and the government. The memorial will continue to be free. [Crain’s]  – Hiten Samtani