Kat,

I agree with your last paragraph 100%.   As said previously, there is enough room to create a memorial AND create space for a community to work, play and come together.

As to the sacred ground, it might be just a difference in semantics. I consider historic sites to be "sacred". I have visited local sites such as FDR's home or Edison's laboratory, or homes that date back to the revolution. These sites are sacred, perhaps not in the spiritual sense like others, but as sites of historical importance that do more good as they exist. Auschwitz, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor and other sites of tragedy will teach new generations - perhaps they will learn the lessons that our generation failed to grasp.   The historic significance of what occured on the site deserves recognition and respect.   Hiroshima has done an admirable job in preserving a rememberance of the tragedy while rebuilding from the ruins.

The remains at the WTC are more than just symbolic. It is a final resting place - more so than the landfill in Staten Island.

We can argue whether it is a war or a crime, in reality all war is a crime.