Monetizing Memorials

The 9/11 Museum opened last week in Manhattan amid a storm of controversy. Designed to remember the horrors of 9/11, many feel the steep $24 admission fee, along with the crass commercialism of the gift shop, has gone too far.With Milton Glaser’s famous “I Love NY” logo in somber tones of black and blue, the Museum Store features a wide range of memorabilia for sale. T-shirts, jewelry, ornaments, magnets, stuffed animals, books, and umbrellas are among the items being sold—at the same sacred site where the remains of 1,115 unidentified victims lie.Among the outraged are family members of the victims. Diane Horning, who never recovered the remains of her son, Matthew, 26, a database administrator for Marsh & McLennan and an aspiring guitarist, told the New York Post she is appalled:“Here is essentially our tomb of the unknown. To sell baubles I find quite shocking and repugnant. I think it's a money-making venture to support inflated salaries, and they're willing to do it over my son's dead body.” (1)New York’s memorial and museum cost more than $700 million to build. Financed by government agencies and private donations, supporters assert that the gift shop exists to provide a a stream of revenue that is needed for operations in addition to the admission fee. The next steps for the museum include plans to open a café by Danny Meyer this summer. While gift shops and cafeterias go hand-in-hand with museums, this news has outraged many. Meyer is CEO of Union Square Hospitality Ground which operates famous Manhattan eateries like Blue Smoke, Gramercy Tavern, and the Shake Shack. Meyer’s states that they are not doing it for commercial reasons, but rather to provide a relaxing and comfortable environment where visitors can experience local and seasonal fare. He also asserts that the café will pay the museum a “significantly above-market” rent and a percentage of proceeds. Opponents still feel opening a café at the site of burnt fire trucks and human ashes is in very bad taste.Other museums like the Pearl Harbor Museum and the Holocost museum have gift shops and charge admission using the money to support itself.“A historic museum is much like a church; you have to have income to survive,” says Kari Watkins, the executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. “For those stories to be told, for those lights to be turned on, for that water to flow, you have to make income.” Her museum welcomes 200,000 visitors a year and derives 25 percent of its revenue from its gift store. (2)Some ask why these standard practices at the 9/11 Memorial have caused such a reaction. With less than 15 years passed since the horrific attacks, is it just too soon?Notes:(1) http://politix.topix.com/story/12134-the-9-11-museum-charges-24-admission-and-has-a-gift-shop-victims-families-are-outraged(2) http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/the-9-11-gift-shop-sells-tacky-tchotchkes-because-well-buy-themSources:http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-23/the-9-11-gift-shop-sells-tacky-tchotchkes-because-well-buy-themhttp://nypost.com/2014/05/22/911-museums-planned-comfort-food-cafe-is-inappropriate/http://nypost.com/2014/05/21/in-bad-taste-911-memorial-museum-opening-danny-meyer-restaurant/http://politix.topix.com/story/12134-the-9-11-museum-charges-24-admission-and-has-a-gift-shop-victims-families-are-outragedhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/what-you-can-buy-at-the-911-museum-gift-shop/2014/05/20/93da3c42-e03e-11e3-9442-54189bf1a809_video.html