A top National Park Service executive has approved plans for the Flight 93 memorial, a step that keeps the $57 million project on track to open in 2011.

	Paul Murdoch, Associated Press
	The design for a memorial is shown in this artist's rendering titled "Entry Portal" by The Partner Organization for The Flight 93 Memorial. The memorial is to be built on the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, crash near Shanksville. Architects are Aleksander Novak-Zemplinski. Click photo for larger image.

The decision by John Latschar, the acting northeast regional director for the Park Service, was announced yesterday in Somerset at a quarterly meeting of the project's advisory group.

The new national park will be built near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township where United Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. Strong evidence indicates that the plane came down as some of the 40 passengers and crew members battled terrorists who had taken control of their aircraft. Officials believe the hijackers had intended to fly the plane into either the White House or the Capitol.

About three dozen people attended the three-hour session in the Somerset County Courthouse.

Advisory group members also received an update on site visitation and fundraising efforts.

During July, about 20,000 people are expected to travel to the temporary memorial at the crash site, according to Donna Glessner, Flight 93 Ambassadors coordinator. The volunteer Ambassadors explain to visitors what happened in Somerset County on Sept. 11 and answer their questions.

Visitors continue to leave hundreds of personal memorials at the site, Ms. Glessner said. She showed images of some of the 140 ceramic tiles made by students from South Amherst, Ohio.

The Ohio visitors came to Shanksville recently after visiting Washington, D.C. Many school groups are making similar journeys, she said. "It took courage ... they had bravery," said one tile. "Another offered a "Salute to the people who died."

Ed Root, president of Families of Flight 93 Inc., reported that Somerset County has turned over about $616,000 to the group he heads. Most of the money had been donated in the weeks and months right after Sept. 11, and had been held in trust by the county.

The bulk of the funds likely will be applied toward land acquisition for the memorial and park, he said.

Mr. Root's cousin, Lorraine Bay, was a flight attendant on Flight 93.

Final planning for a $30 million fundraising effort is under way, according to Loretta Cooper of the National Parks Foundation.

Ms. Cooper said that while everyone agrees that the 40 passengers and crew members on Flight 93 were heroes, those who are working to honor them also are heroic.

"Those men and women have dedicated a huge chunk of their lives to the construction of an honorable and just form of recognition for the heroes of Flight 93," she said.

The foundation's capital campaign will get under way in October.

Groundbreaking for the memorial is scheduled for sometime in 2009, according to Jeff Reinbold, former Park Service project manager. At least part of the permanent memorial should be completed by 2011.

The decision by Mr. Latschar to approve the memorial design met with disapproval from one member of the public. Alec Rawls told the advisory committee he opposed the design because it included what he describes as "Islamic terrorist" geometric elements. Mr. Rawls has written a book, "Crescent of Betrayal," detailing his objections.

The memorial's original design, unveiled in September 2005, had included what designer Paul Murdoch called a "crescent of embrace." That element was modified to form a rough circle or bowl in response to complaints that the crescent was a symbol too closely associated with Islam. The Flight 93 hijackers all were Muslims.

Mr. Rawls' continued criticism of the design drew rebukes from Mr. Root and from a member of the advisory group.

The winning design for the Flight 93 memorial was chosen from among about 1,000 proposals through a process that Mr. Root described as inclusive and democratic.

Advisory group member Ed Linenthal called Mr. Rawls' complaints "bizarre." For Mr. Rawls to be correct, the hundreds of people who worked on the design selection process had to be "too blind to see .. too uncaring or cowardly to act."

The advisory group, made up of representatives from the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force and the Flight 93 Advisory Commission, includes many relatives of passengers and crew.

The group's next session will be Oct. 27 near New York City at a soon-to-be picked location. Flight 93 originated at Newark International Airport.