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    NEW YORK, March 14 (Xinhuanet) -- A judge set on Tuesday March 23 for the hearing on the construction of the World Trade Center Memorial as the deadline for a deal is drawing near.

The construction of the World Trade Center Memorial is underway. [Xinhua photo]

    A group of Sept. 11 victims' families filed suit last week to ask the judge for an injunction stopping the construction. The Coalition of Sept. 11 Families, which represents several hundred victims' families, had hoped an injunction would stop the construction that began Monday. Workers are now preparing the site for a new foundation.

    The families argued that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), the agency in charge of the WTC site reconstruction, and the Port Authority, the owner of the WTC site, had never consulted with them on the plans for the "Reflecting Absence" memorial.

    The families are opposed to concrete being poured over the footprint of the North Tower. They are also angry that the memorial will be underground.

    "LMDC has used our calls to preserve and provide access to the footprint remnants at bedrock as an excuse to bury the memory of Sept. 11, to hide it away, as if it is something our nation should be ashamed of," said the Coalition's Anthony Gardner. "For the record; we've never asked the LMDC to build a subterranean memorial and museum."

    Earlier, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the families have had nearly five years to voice their complaints to the LMDC, and now it is time to move forward.

    "It's time to get behind this plan and go and build the memorial," said the mayor.

    The official groundbreaking ceremony will take place in a few weeks. It is hoped the memorial will open by Sept. 11 2009. Enditem