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8K tons of steel, 23K photos: National September 11 Museum by the numbers

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum opens with a ceremony Thursday in New York City, in the footprint of where the Twin Towers once stood. "It was very, very profound, very emotional — much more than I thought,'' former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Matt Lauer on TODAY Thursday of seeing it for the first time. "In some ways, it's harder now to relive it than it was a year later
By Scott Stump

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum opens with a ceremony Thursday in New York City, in the footprint of where the Twin Towers once stood. "It was very, very profound, very emotional — much more than I thought,'' former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Matt Lauer on TODAY Thursday of seeing it for the first time. 

"In some ways, it's harder now to relive it than it was a year later, two years later, three years later, maybe because you don't think about (the memories) as often and when they come back, they're more powerful." 

By the numbers, the sheer scale of the museum is breathtaking.

  • 110,000: Square feet of exhibition space in the museum, located in the heart of the World Trade Center site. 
  • $700 million: Cost of construction of the museum.
  • 23,000: Photos and images collected connected to Sept. 11 that line the walls of the museum. 
Blessing memorial cards are seen in the historical exhibition section of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum during a press preview on Thursday. The museum collected 23,000 photos for display.
\"There are (also) plenty of images that show the heroism, the bravery, what the firefighters did, the police officers, the individual citizens, (and) how they helped each other,\" Giuliani said on TODAY Thursday.SHANNON STAPLETON / Today
  • 10,300: Artifacts are on display, 2,380 of which were provided by donors to the museum. 
  • 500: Hours of video images can be seen.  
\"It gives you a sense of the enormity of the attack,'' Giuliani said of the museum, which has a model of the World Trade Center buildings.
\"It gives you a sense of the enormity of the attack,'' Giuliani said of the museum, which has a model of the World Trade Center buildings.STAN HONDA / Today
  • 1,970: Oral histories of Sept. 11 experiences collected and preserved. 
  • 8,151: Tons of structural steel used to construct the memorial and museum. 
\"Obviously there are images that are going to be difficult for people to watch and to see,\" said Giuliani of the nearly 10,300 artifacts from Ground Zero.
\"Obviously there are images that are going to be difficult for people to watch and to see,\" said Giuliani of the nearly 10,300 artifacts from Ground Zero.Spencer Platt / Today
  • 49,900: Cubic yards of concrete used in the construction. 
  • $60 million: Operating budget for the museum.  
  • 24: Hours a day the museum will be open for the next five days for families of victims, first responders and survivors.
Bicycles and a bike rack from Ground Zero are part of the more than 10,000 artifacts on display at the September 11 Memorial Museum.
Bicycles and a bike rack from Ground Zero are part of the more than 10,000 artifacts on display.STAN HONDA / Today
  • 7: Stories below the North and South tower memorial pools where the museum is located. 
  • 20,000: Number of tickets that have already been sold for the coming months, reports NBC's Kate Snow.
The entrance to the 110,000-square-foot National September 11 Memorial Museum, center, is located between the two reflecting pools at the World Trade Center in New York. The unidentified remains of those killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 were moved on May 10 to a repository located at bedrock level in the same building as the museum.
The entrance to the 110,000-square-foot National September 11 Memorial Museum, center, is located between two reflecting pools.Mark Lennihan / Today
Inside the 9/11 Museum
Getty Images North America

Slideshow  29 photos

Inside the 9/11 Museum

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum tell the stories of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as of survivors and first responders.


The museum opens to the public on May 21. 

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