Eminent domain is no longer imminent for Flight 93 Memorial

Tony Norman

Yesterday, the U.S. government announced that it wouldn't resort to eminent domain to seize land in Somerset, Pa for the proposed Flight 93 memorial. This is good news for fans of the concept of private property. When the National Park Service announced that it would seize the land from the seven property owners for the memorial rather than pay the landowners what they were asking for the lots, you didn't have to be a libertarian to know something unjust was happening. The National Park Service was engaging in behavior that was fundamentally un-American, anti-democratic and an affront to the concept of property rights. Sure, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the government's right to do such a thing in the name of the public good, but it was questionable whether a memorial to a plane load of heroes that crashed in a field on 9-11 outweighs the rights of the current owners to use the land as they see fit. Fortunately, the government has declined to grab the final 500 acres it needs for its $58 million, 2,200 acre 9-11 memorial and national park.

Perhaps this is uncharitable to say out loud, but isn't the concept of a $58 million site to remember the dead from 9-11 a bit obscene given the state and the federal government's mounting budget constraints? Even if we were flushed with cash, isn't $58 million a bit much to spend on commemorating the dead? What's wrong with placing a plaque or a monument to these folks in the middle of the impact site? If the fields can't be bought at a reasonable price, would if be worth the effort to continue trying to buy the site. If not, does a monument have to be on the exact spot? Will those heroes be any less memorable if we continue to hold them in our hearts? How did we ever get to the point where our government was contemplating the use of eminent domain?

Either negotiate in good faith with the landowners for a fair price or exercise what little common sense is left and walk away. No one will forget the brave sacrifice of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 anytime soon with or without an overpriced memorial that came at the price of so many other American values.