Progress at the WTC site continues

The World Trade Center's 16 acres officially transformed from a clean-up and construction preparation site into a rebuilding zone with the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower on July 4.

"On July 4, as fireworks burst in the sky -- ephemeral reminders of our liberty -- we will begin to reclaim our skyline with a permanent symbol of our freedom," said Gov. George Pataki at the ceremony.

In fact, all around downtown, extensive reconstruction is taking place, a strong-minded, indomitable effort to revitalize and renew what was lost on September 11, 2001. Now, three years after the most devastating terrorist attacks in the history of these United States, the area south of Canal Street is an exciting, determined center of fast-paced rebuilding.

January, for example, brought the unveiling of world renowned architect Santiago Calatrava's inspired design for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. In March we saw the second phase of streetscape work to beautify the area surrounding the New York Stock Exchange. The one-of-a-kind Skyscraper Museum opened on Exchange Place in April, the first new museum to open in Lower Manhattan since 9/11. In May, the dazzling plans for Lower Manhattan's $750 million Fulton Transit Center were unveiled.

As we pause today on the anniversary of September 11 to consider the sacrifice, tragedy, and bravery that defined that day, we step back now and reflect on the rapid rebuilding progress in Lower Manhattan toward what Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said will be "the world's first true 21^st-century downtown."

The Journey Toward the Freedom Tower

Construction workers guide cornerstone into place at the July 4th ceremony

The elegantly tapered, twisting tower is designed to evoke the nearby Statue of Liberty and to "come out of the bedrock of this disaster," said Daniel Libeskind, master planner of the World Trade Center site. With the Independence Day ceremony, its construction officially began.

The first task is removal of a parking garage under the former Six World Trade Center tower, according to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architectural firm whose principal, David Childs, is the Freedom Tower master architect. Crews are working at the same time to reinforce the bathtub wall and construct below-grade infrastructure for the tower and adjoining areas. The building, which will include 2.6 million square feet of office space as well as below-grade retail, PATH and subway access, an observation deck, and world-class restaurants, is slated for completion in 2009.

"Courage is the power of life to affirm itself," said Mayor Bloomberg at the ceremony on July 4, invoking the words of civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "By laying this magnificent cornerstone of hope, we are reaffirming life at Ground Zero."

Governor Pataki also spoke as part of the day's ceremony. "Today we take Adirondack granite -- the bedrock of our state -- and place it as the foundation, the bedrock, of this new symbol of American strength and confidence," he said. "Today we lay the cornerstone for a new symbol of this city and of this country, and of our resolve to triumph in the face of terror."

WTC Memorial

Reflecting Absence, by designer Michael Arad, was chosen by the LMDC Memorial Jury

In the selected design, water cascades down walls that mark the location of the towers' footprints and flows into a pair of reflecting pools submerged thirty feel below street level. The surface of each pool is then itself broken by large voids. The voids, wrote Arad in a statement issued when his design was selected as a finalist in November, "can be read as containers of loss, being close by, yet inaccessible." And the pools, too, "are large voids, open and visible reminders of the absence."

Honored to learn that the jury had selected his design, Arad pledged, "I will do my best to rise to the enormity of the task at hand. It is with great humility that I regard the challenges that lie ahead -- and it is with great hope that I will find the strength and ability to meet them."

Construction of the memorial is scheduled to begin in 2006.

In the meantime, plans were announced earlier this week for an interim online virtual memorial, called "The Living Memorial," to provide a place for reflection, remembrance, and interaction regarding the events of 9/11 until the permanent memorial in constructed. Launched by September's Mission, a non-profit organization formed in TK 2001 to support the development and fundraising for a permanent memorial, the Internet-based portal will be funded by grants from the LMDC and E*TRADE Financial Corporation.

"This is the last year families will be able to descend to Ground Zero on the anniversary until the memorial opens to the public, and this is project will help provide an interim place to being healing the void in our hearts," said September's Mission founder Monica Iken, who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks.

The portal, which will be located at www.911livingmemorial.org, will be developed over the next six months, with build out scheduled to begin in spring 2005. It will feature several modules, including two dedicated to 9/11 victims' and children, which will provide a place for families to come together to honor lost loved ones.

Four Cultural Institutions Selected for WTC Site

In early June, state and city officials announced the selection of four cultural institutions that will provide a wide-ranging, diverse mix of dance, theatre, and fine arts for the new performing arts center to be built at the World Trade Center site.

Four cultural institutions were selected to make their home at the new performing arts center to be built at the WTC site

"Cultural programming has always been an essential part of rebuilding Lower Manhattan and creating a fitting tribute to all the heroes we lost during the attacks," Gov. Pataki said in a statement. "The addition of these world class cultural institutions at the World Trade Center site will reaffirm life in the wake of the tragedy."

The institutions include the Joyce International Dance Center, which will present one- or two-week engagements by about 30 different dance companies from around the world each year; the Freedom Center, a new organization created expressly for the World Trade Center site that will include exhibitions focused on "humankind's enduring quest for freedom;" the Signature Theater Company, which will showcase some of the world's most acclaimed dramatists, and the Drawing Center, the only fine arts institution in the nation that concentrates exclusively on the exhibition of drawings.

The four institutions are now working with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to put together a feasibility analysis of their proposed programming, funding capacity, and space requirements. The LMDC will then enter into formal agreement with the organizations and perhaps also offer challenge grants to assist with the costs of establishing these facilities.

"The selection of these institutions is a great step in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan," Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement, "and a significant development in New York's cultural renaissance."

The LMDC released a formal request for proposals for architectural services for the cultural complexes last month. Completion of the cultural center is expected by 2009.

The Trade Center's Rapidly Rising Star

7 WTC to be New York's safest, greenest building

Tucked between the Woolworth Building and 3 World Trade Center, 7 WTC will reach an ultimate height of 750 feet, or 52 stories. Developer Larry Silverstein tapped acclaimed architect David Childs to design 7 WTC, and skilled skyscraper contractor Tishman Construction to build it. And as testament to the team's efficient design and construction planning, which was not part of a public design competition like the main Trade Center site, work on the tower began in the summer of 2002.

The tower-in-progress, which will cost $700 million to construct, has several claims to fame. For starters, it will be the world's "greenest" skyscraper. Its exterior walls will conserve energy, rainwater will help with cooling and irrigation, recycled-content building materials have already and will continue to reduce waste, and other conservation and air-quality measures will prove that high-rises can be environmentally responsible.

7 WTC will make use of the latest in design and materials like "ultra-clear" glass

Battery Bosque Reconstruction Is Underway

New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe gathered with LMDC President Kevin Rampe and other local officials this summer to break ground for the $8.5 million renovation of the Bosque Area of Battery Park, a section of the park located along the waterfront. Reconstruction of the Bosque -- a Spanish word meaning "grove of trees" -- will transform the setting into a lush, green destination spot, a place that Benepe hopes will become a "magical space, year-round."

The renovation of the Battery Bosque was funded by the LMDC as part of a broader $25 million project to restore and create 13 parks and green spaces in Lower Manhattan. The Parks & Recreation Department has obtained more than $37 million from the LMDC; federal, state, and city governments; foundations, and corporations to both revitalize and establish new open spaces in the downtown area.

As part of the effort at the Battery Bosque, there will be 57,000 square feet of gardens, planted with 70,000 bulbs and 33,000 perennials. Also, there will be two food kiosks built for eating within the gardens and a spiral, granite fountain -- the first new fountain built downtown in about three decades.

More Improvements on the Way

In addition to the ambitious, long-range rebuilding projects now underway downtown, there are also more immediate improvements and reconstruction efforts taking place in Lower Manhattan.

Earlier this summer, restoration of historic Bowling Green was completed, the Greenmarket found a home outside the temporary WTC PATH Terminal, and Tribeca Park opened, marking the conclusion of a $715,000 revitalization effort.

Officals break ground at Battery Bosque Park

Ferry service also is getting attention. Port Authority-run service from downtown to LaGuardia Airport is slated to begin later in 2004, and a similar service to JFK will ship out next year. These lines may be bolstered by construction of a permanent, expanded Battery Park City Ferry Terminal to open in the spring of 2006.

And as planned, West Street will get a facelift starting in September, when the State Department of Transportation begins revamping the southern portion of the highway (from Washington to West Thames Street) into a tree-lined promenade.