By Emilie Lynch Daily American
Plans for a Flight 93 Chapel Auditorium Museum were announced on Sunday at the Sixth Annual Bikers’ Patriotic Day Convergence at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel.
Bishop Alphonse Mascherino, founder and director of the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel, hopes to offer a place to accommodate the growing crowds.
“We can’t keep meeting in a tent,” said Mascherino.
The structure would be 40 feet by 64 feet by 14 feet and have a seating capacity of about 300.
“The building could go up in 10 working days. We just need the money. We are not going to go into debt to build this building. We are going to wait until we have the funds,” said Mascherino.
The building is expected to cost around $40,000.
The Auditorium Museum will be located between the chapel and the Flight 93 Crew Monument. The building is planned to house five memorials including a Military and Armed Forces Memorial, Firefighters and First Responders Memorial, Flight 93 Chapel Bikers’ God and Country Memorial, People’s Memorial Wall of Remembrance and a Flight 93 Crew Monument Atrium Memorial.
Cadets from Shikellamy High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) attended and participated in the service to announce the plans for these memorials after Lt. Col. Joseph Walsh, a teacher at Shikellamy JROTC, and several Shikellamy high school students visited the site earlier this year.
The students heard about the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) and the group that places flags around the site and wanted to come back to be a part of the service. Cadets from the JROTC presented the colors, gave speeches and participated in the Pageant of State Flags.
“We want to get an appreciation for the event,” said Angelina Rodkey, a senior at Shikellamy JROTC who sang the National Anthem at the service.
