The long-planned 9/11 education center near the Pentagon is getting a boost from Virginia’s new state budget.
The Pentagon Memorial Fund said the two-year spending plan — approved by the General Assembly on Monday and set to take effect July 1 — includes money for the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center. A budget amendment provides $1 million to Arlington County to support the center’s construction.
The education center would be the first permanent place for visitors to learn the story of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon, which killed 184 people in the building and aboard American Airlines Flight 77. The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, which opened in 2008 and draws more than a million visitors a year, is the only one of the three 9/11 attack sites without one.
The facility is planned for a site about 200 yards southwest of the memorial, across Washington Blvd, on land that opened up through Arlington National Cemetery’s southern expansion.
“This funding in support of the VEC will ensure that a quarter-century after that tragic day, our commitment to honoring the victims and teaching the lessons of resilience remains our primary mission,” said Joseph Kornhoff, executive director of the Pentagon Memorial Fund.
The state money adds to what the fund calls a public-private partnership. The project, estimated to cost $35 million, has already secured $12 million in federal funding through this year’s defense budget, along with private donations that include $5 million from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation and contributions from Amazon, Accenture and Transurban.
Del. Patrick Hope (D) had committed to pursuing the state appropriation during this year’s General Assembly session, as ARLnow detailed in January when the project prepared to break ground this summer. Kornhoff has also credited Sen. Barbara Favola (D), Del. Rip Sullivan (D) and County Board member Matt de Ferranti for years of advocacy.
The fund said it is focused on educational programming around the 25th anniversary of the attacks, culminating in a groundbreaking it has scheduled for September 12. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2029.
