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Agreement Will Restart Work on Sept. 11 Museum

After nearly a year of discord and delay, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo reached an agreement on Monday to resume construction of the Sept. 11 museum at ground zero in Manhattan.

In negotiations over the weekend, aides to Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo resolved longstanding disputes over which government agencies would pay for the costs of the museum and which officials would oversee it. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey then agreed to the arrangement.

Mr. Christie and Mr. Cuomo share control over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while Mr. Bloomberg heads the Sept. 11 foundation, which oversees the national memorial and museum at the former World Trade Center site and the annual commemoration.

“I’m very gratified that on the eve of this important anniversary we are able to announce an agreement that will ensure the completion of the 9/11 museum,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement Monday night. He added that the agreement ensured that construction “will be restarted very soon and will not stop until the museum is completed.”

The tentative resolution involves additional cash payments from the Sept. 11 foundation for construction costs, closer coordination among the parties and the creation of an advisory committee to resolve disputes.

The museum, dedicated to documenting the attack and honoring its victims, had been scheduled to open in a formal ceremony on the attack’s 11th anniversary on Tuesday, but construction work largely stopped after the 10th anniversary. Both sides say they are now hoping that the museum, which sits seven stories below street level, will open by the end of 2013, as Mayor Bloomberg’s term ends. Construction is expected to resume by the end of the month.

The 100,000-square-foot museum will contain thousands of artifacts, audiovisual displays, profiles of the victims and photographs of the 19 hijackers.

In a statement Monday night, Mr. Cuomo called the agreement a “milestone” in the rebuilding. “By ensuring that no additional public funds are spent to complete the memorial and the museum,” he said, “today’s agreement puts in place a critical and long overdue safeguard to finally protect toll payers and taxpayers from bearing further costs, and, at the same time, put the project on a path for completion.”

Under the agreement, the foundation will share financial data with the Port Authority and provide $12 million more as needed for construction and as much as $1 million a year for 30 years from any operating surplus, beginning in 2018. It has already contributed $280 million in private donations and more than $330 million in state and federal money toward construction. It has also raised $170 million in private contributions for exhibits and operating expenses.

In addition, the Port Authority will formally transfer ownership of the eight acres that contain the memorial and the museum to the foundation.

The two sides agreed to work together to speed construction and to more closely coordinate events on the memorial plaza, although the foundation will retain control. Still, Monday’s agreement leaves plenty of room for future disputes, because the city and state must now agree on scheduling and other details. Over the last decade, conflicts between prominent officials have repeatedly broken out regarding ground zero.

In fact, the dispute over the museum, which is about 75 percent complete, was a throwback to a time when the rebuilding of the trade center site was marked by political maneuvering, delays and inaction. Today, the site bustles with activity. The central skyscraper, 1 World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, has reached its full height and is expected to open early in 2014. Its developer, Larry Silverstein, is erecting two other towers; the Port Authority is building a transportation center.

The tentative agreement was reached during a conference call among the chief negotiators on both sides: Scott Rechler of the Port Authority, and Larry Schwartz, speaking for Mr. Cuomo; and Joseph Daniels of the foundation and Howard Wolfson and Robert Steel, speaking for Mr. Bloomberg.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Bloomberg and Cuomo Announce Deal to Restart Construction of Museum at Ground Zero. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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