Leaders in New York City will soon decide their plans for ground zero, including whether an institution already designated for the site after a long and very public competition – the International Freedom Center – will survive. What we do at ground zero will tell us something important about the country’s long-term response to the tragedy of September 11.

The September 11 terrorist attacks at ground zero claimed nearly 3,000 lives from more than 90 countries in a brutal challenge to freedom. Lives and buildings were destroyed, and from the ashes emerged a new spirit of service and sacrifice. Firefighters gave life to save life; individuals who knew no one in New York drove from Seattle to offer help; embassy lines burned with messages of solidarity and support. A morning of despair quickly became a rally of hope. The International Freedom Center offers us an opportunity to extend that spirit, to permanently promote service to freedom at the very point of attack.

The author of the landmark book “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam, remarked that, “9/11 was a tragedy, of course, but it also was an opportunity for civic renewal that comes along once or twice a century for a country.” A predictable spike in volunteer service after September 11 was surprisingly followed by even larger numbers of Americans continuing to volunteer in the years that have followed. Some even talk about the early signs of a civic reawakening, both in America and abroad. Among these signs is the widespread impulse, from across the country, to reach out to our fellow citizens on the devastated Gulf Coast.

Ground zero will always be a place of mourning. As Carie Lemack, who lost her mother when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower and serves with me on one of the advisory groups for the International Freedom Center, says, “Mom’s remains were never returned to us. Like so many others, where can we pay our respects?” (As someone who nearly lost his wife and daughter because they happened to be standing in the lobby of the World Trade Center when the 1993 terrorist bomb exploded, I am particularly sensitive to this sentiment.) The Memorial, and the Memorial Center museum devoted to the story of the day, would be powerful reminders of the tragic loss that occurred there.

But something else happened at ground zero that also deserves remembering and perpetuating. As President Bush noted to a unified nation, our freedoms were attacked and we responded, individually and collectively, with the “gathering momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness.” Evil could, indeed, be answered by great good.

The International Freedom Center could be an important complement to the Memorial, reflecting not only our personal loss but also the country’s patriotic response. Inspiring educational exhibits at the center will tell the courageous stories of individuals in the centuries-old struggle to secure and maintain their freedoms. Evening programs related to the exhibits would stimulate a global conversation to advance freedom’s cause. And a service and civic engagement gallery would enable the more than one million visitors annually to continue to find ways to serve others and the cause of freedom around the world.

Ground zero is now a public place; developing it is a public trust. If it lives only in the shadow of a brutal attack for decades to come, we may all eventually feel an even greater sense of loss. Let’s hope our public stewards choose to include the International Freedom Center in this public space, completing a living memorial that will honor and perpetuate the patriotism and renewed sense of purpose forged on that day.

Mr. Bridgeland, formerly assistant to President George W. Bush and director of the USA Freedom Corps, is chairman of the International Freedom Center’s service and civic engagement advisory board.