Universal to aid Flight 93 fund

Universal Pictures will donate $1.15 million this week toward a memorial to the passengers and crew who perished aboard United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001 -- addressing concerns of a lawmaker who has blocked legislation to buy land for the project, the studio said Tuesday.

The donation from Universal, which last week released “United 93,” a film about the flight, brings to $9 million the private donations so far. Organizers hope to raise $30 million to build the memorial near Shanksville, Pa., where the plane crashed.

The studio had promised to contribute 10% of the box office revenue from the first three days of the North American release to the memorial, which is expected to cost about $58 million to build.

The total announced Tuesday represents 10% of the opening weekend gross of $11.5 million, said Michael Moses, an executive at Universal.

For the last two years, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department, has blocked funding to buy property for the memorial. He has expressed concerns that the project would not receive sufficient private funding and the federal government would be asked to pick up the tab.