New Plan Calls for Scaling Back
Of World Trade Center Memorial
The World Trade Center Memorial faces simplification of its design, including moving carved-in-stone names of Sept. 11 victims to ground level, possibly eliminating or scaling back waterfalls and reducing the size of a museum.
Those were among the recommendations made yesterday to New York Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a closed-door meeting, according to people close to the situation. A formal report on the redesign will be released next week. Real-estate developer Frank Sciame presented the plans after Gov. Pataki asked him last month to create a budget that would bring the bulk of the project's cost to $500 million. A construction estimate in May put the total cost of the memorial, including infrastructure and other elements, at $1 billion.
Mr. Sciame also recommended -- and Gov. Pataki agreed -- that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, build the memorial. That task lies with the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, a publicly chartered, privately run group that also is in charge of fund raising.
The original memorial design by architect Michael Arad called for two square openings that covered the footprints of the Twin Towers. Waterfalls would fall from the edge of the openings into underground chambers, where victims' names would be etched in granite. Mr. Arad couldn't be reached for comment.
People who have been briefed on Mr. Sciame's report say it simplifies the project by doing away with separate entrances for the memorial, an adjacent museum and a visitor center. The museum would be reduced in size, but still would be underground. There would be a much smaller amount of space underground dedicated to the memorial. The waterfalls could be eliminated or greatly reduced. Scale mock-ups of the waterfalls showed they would be difficult to operate in the wind and cold.
People familiar with the project said Gov. Pataki favored Mr. Sciame's recommendation to bring the etched victims' names to ground level -- an idea preferred by several groups representing family members of victims killed in the 2001 attacks. Placing the names underground -- and providing space where visitors could reflect on the attacks -- was a centerpiece of Mr. Arad's vision.
Moving the names would eliminate the need for large underground chambers and would fundamentally change the visitors' experience. Instead of descending into the underground chambers, visitors would look at the names amid an open-air, tree-lined park. Nine million people are expected to visit the memorial the year after its planned opening, which, despite the redesign, is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2009.
Visitor access to the underground slurry wall, which protects the site from the nearby Hudson River and survived the collapse of the Twin Towers, would be limited to a smaller area than before.
Before the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey could take responsibility for building the memorial, the transportation agency -- controlled by the two states' governors -- would have to agree to take on the cost of underground infrastructure shared by the memorial and a neighboring rail station, shopping mall and office buildings. The May report estimated the cost of infrastructure -- including ramps, air-conditioning plants and sidewalks -- at $300 million. Mr. Sciame's analysis put the cost between $150 million and $200 million, according to those familiar with his report.
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