Reconstruction begins at Trade Center site
NEW YORK — Less than three years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, the rebuilding of the emotionally charged site began Sunday with the laying of a 20-ton granite cornerstone, a symbolic act that officials said demonstrated the power and endurance of freedom on America’s 228th birthday.
Under a sky as blue and cloudless as on the day the towers were attacked, a crane carefully lowered the charcoal-gray stone onto a platform of heavy wooden beams below ground level at what will be the southeast corner of Freedom Tower, the centerpiece skyscraper of the project.
Quarried near Lake George in New York’s Adirondack mountains, the cornerstone’s inscription reads, “To honor and remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom.”
At 1,776 feet, Freedom Tower will stand not only as a structural symbol of the year that America proclaimed its independence. It will surpass by about 100 feet Taipei 101 in Taiwan, currently the world’s tallest building. (A skyscraper under construction in the United Arab Emirates reportedly will top 2,000 feet.)
“Let this great Freedom Tower show the world that what our enemies sought to destroy — our democracy, our freedom, our way of life — stands taller than ever before,” said New York Gov. George Pataki, addressing a crowd of several hundred officials, construction workers, and family members of some of the 2,749 people who were killed at the trade center in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reminded the crowd gathered at the bottom of the trade center site of earlier struggles — the American Revolution and the Civil War — as they called for steadfastness in the war on terror.
“Today as we lay this cornerstone, we remember the liberties that are the bedrock of our nation, the foundation that can never be shaken by violence or hate,” said Bloomberg. “The war on terror that we now fight requires courage, and our freedoms are the source of our courage.”
In keeping with the Independence Day theme, bagpipers and a children’s chorus performed patriotic songs, and Julian Davis, the 13-year-old son of a Port Authority police officer who was killed in the attacks, read the beginning of the Declaration of Independence.
The start of construction on Freedom Tower, which is expected to be completed in late 2008, drew a mixed response from family members.
“I feel very good about it,” said John Foy, whose mother-in-law, Rita Blau, was killed at the trade center. “It’s a step into the future.”
But for several groups of Sept. 11 families, the cornerstone ceremony came too soon. Some maintain that not enough has been done to preserve the remnants of the columns that mark the outlines of the twin towers; others believe that the emphasis on rebuilding is inappropriate.
“I think it would have been better for the entire country if they had started work on the memorial today,” said William Healy, whose niece was a passenger on one of the hijacked planes that slammed into the towers.
A jury selected a memorial design in January, but construction of that project, which will use waterfalls to outline the sides of the former trade center towers, is not expected to start until 2006.
Standing at the bottom of Ground Zero, 70 feet below street level, evidence of the devastation caused by the worst terrorist attack in history is still visible.
Several stories of the trade center’s underground garage have been left in place to shore up the north side of the “bathtub,” the retaining wall that keeps the waters of the nearby Hudson River from flooding the site. The garage will be demolished by the end of the year so construction can start on Freedom Tower.
And facing Ground Zero on the south is the empty hulk of the Deutsche Bank building, which was severely damaged by falling debris from the trade center. The 40-story structure will be demolished to make way for one of the new trade center office towers.
But signs of rebirth are abundant in and around the 16-acre site. A new commuter train station has opened. To the north of Ground Zero, a replacement for 7 World Trade Center, which was not part of the original trade center, is already more than 30 stories tall. The 52-story building will be finished by 2006.
The $1.5 billion Freedom Towerwill contain about 2.6 million square feet of office space.