A rendering of the proposed indoor Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center in Kewaskum, September 2026. (Courtesy of Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center)
KEWASKUM, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A generation after 9/11, a new center aims to keep Wisconsin’s stories of loss alive.
On the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center is launching a $4 million capital campaign to build a permanent, indoor Education Center in Kewaskum.
Visitors will learn about the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, including the 18 victims with Wisconsin ties, and about the first responders, military personnel and ordinary Americans who answered an extraordinary moment with courage and sacrifice.
The village is home to 9/11 victim, Andrea Haberman, a Kewaskum High School graduate and St. Norbert College graduate, who was killed in the North Tower while in New York on her first business trip.
The outdoor exhibit currently includes a beam of steel recovered from the north tower of the World Trade Center.
The planned 4,500-square-foot facility will transform the existing outdoor Memorial in Kewaskum into a year-round destination for students, families, educators, veterans, first responders and visitors from throughout the Midwest. Plans include interactive exhibits and educational stations, space for school groups and community programs, and facilities that will allow educational programming regardless of Wisconsin weather.
Organizers say this campaign comes at a critical moment. An entire generation of Americans has now grown up with little or no personal memory of September 11th. For millions of young people throughout the Midwest, visiting the National Memorial & Museum in New York City, the Pentagon, or the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania may never be possible.
The need to bring 9/11 education to young people is increasingly being recognized even in New York. This month, the New York City Council announced a $1 million investment to provide free field trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for New York City students, with a particular focus on eighth graders, as well as expanded educational programming.
“We are reaching a point where nearly every student who walks through our Memorial was born after September 11th,” said Dr. Mark Bazata, Board President of the Wisconsin 9/11 Memorial & Education Center. “They shouldn’t have to travel a thousand miles to understand what happened that day, who we lost, how Americans responded and why those lessons still matter. We want to build a place here in Wisconsin where young people from across the Midwest can experience those stories and carry them forward.”
In 2024 alone, thousands of people visited the outdoor Memorial, including more than 850 students from eight Wisconsin counties. The organization currently provides grade-specific educational resources, field-trip programming, and transportation grants to help schools and youth organizations visit. An indoor center will allow it to be open year-round.
Individuals, businesses, foundations, and organizations interested in supporting the capital campaign can click here to learn more.
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