Apr 30, 2009 12:15 pm US/Eastern
Swiss Foundation Donates $1M To 9/11 Memorial
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A Swiss foundation is giving $1 million to the Sept. 11 memorial.
The Starr International Foundation's gift is the largest from outside the U.S. for the memorial to the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The foundation is affiliated with a U.S.-based institution that has made the largest donation so far of $25 million.
The National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum says it's raised over $350 million privately to build the memorial at ground zero, which sets twin reflecting pools over the World Trade Center towers' footprints.
It is trying to raise at least $25 million more for endowment funds. The government is spending hundreds of millions more to help build it. Officials hope to open it on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
The Memorial will consist of two massive pools set within the footprints of the Twin Towers with the largest manmade waterfalls in the country cascading down their sides.
The Memorial pools will each be nearly one acre in size. The names of the victims will be inscribed on parapets surrounding the pools, within groupings that will allow for family members, friends, and co-workers who shared life's journey and perished together to have their names listed side by side.
An eight-acre landscaped Memorial Plaza filled with nearly 400 trees will create a contemplative space separate from the sights and sounds of the surrounding city.
The Memorial design, created by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, was selected from a design competition that included more than 5,200 entrants from 63 nations.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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