Multiple proposals emerge for ground zero

LAST week, Mr. Whitehead named an advisory panel made up of family members. One of them is Monica Iken, a teacher whose husband, Michael, died in the attacks. His remains have not been found. To help deal with her grief she founded September's Mission, which is dedicated to ensuring an appropriate memorial is constructed.

Initially, Ms. Iken thought that the six acres that make up the footprint of the two towers and the immediate vicinity would be enough for a memorial.

But then she went down and actually saw the site, and that transformed her thinking. Like former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, she would now like to use the entire 16 acres to build "the most beautiful memorial."

"Those buildings exploded, you don't know where those souls landed, you don't know where they're laid to rest," she says. "You can't say it's OK to build right here, because you don't know - the whole site is sacred, it's really a burial ground."

Jack Lynch, who lost his firefighter son Michael on Sept. 11, agrees the ground is sacred; "consecrated by the blood of the victims," he says. And because his son's remains also have not been found, right now, the site is his graveyard. But Mr. Lynch has a very different idea of how it should be used. He's in favor of a memorial where the towers and the Marriott Hotel stood, but he'd like the rest rebuilt.

"If we do not rebuild commercially, I feel like the terrorists have defeated us - that's our way of life, and they were attacking our way of life," he says.

Still, he is full of gentleness when he talks about other family members with different ideas.

"I disagree with Monica, but if her viewpoint prevails, that won't bother me at all," he says.

That kind of tolerance is heard among many family members. John Cartier's brother James was killed while working in the World Trade Center. He was a member of the local electricians union, as is Mr. Cartier.

"My personal opinion is that I'd like a certain amount of property designated for a memorial and the other percentage to be rebuilt to show the world that they can knock 'em down but we'll build them right back up," he says.

Mr. Cartier points to his friend, New York police officer Stephen Campbell, whose wife Jill perished in the inferno. "He's the one who wants the whole 16 acres," Cartier says.

Mr. Campbell was digging down at the site in the immediate aftermath, and has worked shifts there since then.

"Right now, I just can't see building anything there," he says.

But something will be constructed, and the family members are determined that - whatever it is - it pays proper tribute to their loved ones and the enormity of the event. Still none of them, at least right now, wants a political fight to mar the outcome.

"We're one big family now," says Cartier, explaining. "His wife is now my sister, my brother is his brother. We'll work it out."

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