John Moore/Getty Images A visitor at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum site last month. The memorial is open; the museum expects to open next year.Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has personally lent the Sept. 11 museum $15 million to help cover expenses until the institution opens at ground zero a year from now.
Mr. Bloomberg, who serves as chairman of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the former World Trade Center site, is charging the lowest possible interest rate â€" less than 0.3 percent â€" so that the transaction would qualify under federal rules as a loan rather than a gift.
The cost of building the 100,000-square-foot underground museum has swelled to roughly $1 billion.
The private foundation has received about $600 million from state and federal governments, as well as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It has also raised more than $450 million in private donations from individuals and corporations, including $15 million from Mr. Bloomberg himself.
But the largest donors often contribute their money over time, occasionally creating a cash-flow problem for the foundation. Delays have also driven up the cost of the project.
“The fact our chairman was able to extend a loan on such favorable terms is something we all recognize as something tremendously generous,†said Joseph Daniels, president of the foundation.
Mr. Bloomberg is making the loan through a corporate entity of which he is the only shareholder. A spokeswoman for Mr. Bloomberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the money is being proffered as a loan rather than a gift.
The foundation had sought to borrow the money from a bank, but most lenders were reluctant to make a loan against donation pledges. One bank, JPMorgan Chase, did offer to provide a loan, but the interest rate and fees would have cost four percentage points more than the loan from Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Daniels said.
He said the foundation would start drawing down the Bloomberg loan sometime in the fall.
At its board meeting last week, the foundation also formally voted to charge an entry fee to the museum when it opens. The museum expects to open next April. The board members did not set the fee, but it is expected to be between $20 and $25, despite the large dollop of public funds. The foundation expects that the museum will attract about 2.5 million annual visitors.
The memorial itself is free, although the foundation recently adopted a $2 service fee for online reservations.
