INDIANAPOLIS - People in downtown Indianapolis have another place to visit, and a steady stream of them are coming to the new 9/11 memorial at Ohio Street and the Canal.
Paul Saltin moved away from Indianapolis 28 years ago. Back for a visit, he made sure to put the new 9/11 memorial on his agenda.
"The city has changed a bit, for the better," he said.
Saltin lives in New Jersey now - not far from Ground Zero. He says memorials like the one in Indianapolis capture the spirit of his friends and neighbors who witnessed the attacks close-up.
"I think everybody has to kind of remember 9/11 almost every day. Not for the bad things, but for how it brought us all together," he said.
Gaelen Crawford came from Greenwood to see the new memorial not expecting to have the emotional reaction that he did.
"It's moving. You have to shake it off a little bit when you look at it and keep your composure. It's moving. It's very touching," said Crawford.
George Bogdan of Indianapolis was touched by the memorial too, and found his senses overwhelmed.
"Right here, you can almost smell it. Right here, you can smell there's that odor, where the fire was," he said, looking at one of the beams.
No matter what the reaction, everyone we talked to said the memorial made them feel something.
"I was almost afraid to touch the pillar, but when I touched it, there was an energy -- if that makes sense," said Pamela Crawford, Spokane, Washington.
You can go see the 9/11 memorial any time. There is no admission charge. One of the things that people say is most powerful is the ability to touch the beams that were once part of the World Trade Center Twin Towers.
Last week's fundraiser by WTHR helped raise nearly $50,000 - the amount needed to pay the project's remaining bills. Any additional funds received will go towards the upkeep of the memorial. It was funded entirely by private donations.
