Freedom Center banned from Ground Zero

The reconstruction of Ground Zero where the World Trade Center once stood faced another major revision Thursday following the scrapping of a proposed International Freedom Center at the site.
After months of criticism from victims' families, New York Governor George Pataki announced Wednesday that the center could not be built as planned, next to a permanent memorial for those killed in the September 11, 2001 attack.
Minutes later, the organisers of the center called it quits, saying there was no viable alternative site.
The center had been envisaged as an exhibition of the world-wide struggle for freedom. Family groups had bitterly opposed the project on the grounds that it shifted the focus away from the September 11 victims.
"I personally believe that the celebration of freedom is not inconsistent with the goals of memorialising our nearly 3,000 lost heroes," Pataki said.
"The creation of an institution that would show the world our unity and our resolve to preserve freedom in the wake of the horrific attacks is a noble pursuit. But freedom should unify us. This center has not," he said.
The governor urged the center's organisers to work with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp (LMDC) - the body overseeing the Ground Zero reconstruction - to find a new location.
The organisers promptly responded by declaring themselves out of business.
"We do not believe there is a viable alternative place," the center's executives said in a joint statement. "We consider our work, therefore, to have been brought to an end."
The LMDC said it was disappointed at the outcome.
"We had hoped that we would able to reach a resolution that was agreeable to all," said the corporation's chairman, John Whitehead.
"We will move forward with the centerpiece of our efforts, creating an inspiring memorial to those we have lost," he said.
The freedom center was one of four proposed tenants for the cultural complex being built at Ground Zero as part of architect Daniel Libeskind's redevelopment master plan.
Another tenant, The Drawing Center, withdrew last year after Pataki demanded a guarantee that it would never put on an exhibition that might be seen as denigrating the United States.
The entire Ground Zero rebuilding project has been mired in controversy since its conception, with bickering and repeated revisions delaying construction work.