Staff at The FBI Experience recently added several pieces to its exhibit about the 9/11 terrorist attack, including a 610-pound piece of limestone damaged in the attack on the Pentagon.
Staff at The FBI Experience recently added several pieces to its exhibit about the 9/11 terrorist attack, including a 610-pound piece of limestone damaged in the attack on the Pentagon.
A public tour at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., The FBI Experience explains how the FBI is structured and works to keep the American public safe. Its 9/11 gallery includes items and artifacts from each of the three 9/11 crash sites: the World Trade Center in New York; a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and the Pentagon in Virginia.
In addition to the limestone, The FBI Experience recently added items seized from the compound of 9/11 sponsor and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and items used in recovery efforts at each site.
Originally, the limestone was intended for display at the interagency Terrorist Screening Center in Virginia, now called the Threat Screening Center. The TSC was created in 2003 as a result of the devastating 2001 attack.
In 2009, TSC staff carefully selected 12 stones from the Pentagon for displays to memorialize the coordinated attack, in which five terrorists flew a passenger jet into the building at 9:37 a.m., killing 59 passengers and crew and 125 people in the building. The death toll continues to climb as survivors and responders succumb to illness from exposure to toxins at the site.
Of the 12 pieces, TSC officials felt the slab now at FBI Headquarters was the most architecturally notable. Based on its shape, it likely came from near the roofline of the damaged portion of the Pentagon.
The TSC stored the piece while contemplating the best site to honor of 9/11 victims and heroes. In 2021, the TSC and the FBI agreed that The FBI Experience was an appropriate venue to display the artifact and moved the stone to the FBI Headquarters.
The FBI Experience partnered with exhibit designers, fabricators, and mount-makers to build a display for the limestone. They also fabricated a custom steel mount that could support the dense object. Installers used a hoist to move the stone into place.
The display includes additional photos, graphics, and information about the destruction at the Pentagon. Seeing the stone in person allows visitors to contemplate the impact of the terror attack.
