Nearly a decade after 9/11, a pavilion now stands at the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed below a farmhouse near Shanksville, Pa. Construction of the memorial’s visitors center has not started (a temporary visitors center is open), but now in place are this plaza, a parking lot and a walkway leading to the pavilion that traces the final flight path of the Boeing 757. On Saturday, July 30, 2011, memorial officials and survivors of the 40 who died that day dedicated three sweetgum trees (visible just this side of the pavilion) that are among 40 given to the site by the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.  The trees were originally intended for the New York memorial, but were “repurposed” after its design changed and the trees were designated for the Shanksville site as a symbolic link between the two.  The other trees have already been planted near the pavilion and above the path, not far from the current viewing site (below).  The newly completed portions of the memorial will open after a public, two-hour ceremony on Sept. 10, 2011.  A commemoration service will be held on Sept. 11.  Details on the programs for those days can be found at this link.

An access road leading to the Flight 93 Memorial is under construction. This is the entrance to the road at U.S. Route 30, just east of Stoystown, Pa.