WTC site owner taking over 9/11 Memorial
WTC site owner taking over 9/11 memorial
AMY WESTFELDT
Associated Press
NEW YORK - The government agency that owns the World Trade Center site is taking over construction of the Sept. 11 memorial, following recommendations that the move could trim spiraling costs.
But the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also said the agency could back out of the agreement if the price of the project exceeds the latest estimate of $510 million.
"We're going to try and reconcile the numbers. No one has agreed to build it for a number greater" than $510 million, Chairman Anthony Coscia said.
The boards of the Port Authority and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation voted Thursday to have the Port Authority build the memorial instead of the nonprofit memorial foundation.
Officials have already approved a new, less-expensive version of the "Reflecting Absence" design after contractors estimated in May it would cost close to $1 billion.
Preliminary memorial construction began in March and stopped two months later when the cost estimates came out. The memorial foundation suspended private fund raising and its president quit, while Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed a developer to cut costs.
The latest estimate assumes savings because having the site's owner take over would cut down on duplications of services and would reduce the number of people involved. The Port Authority had previously offered to take over the memorial construction, but had been turned down.
The new design for the square pools with cascading waterfalls set above the twin towers' footprints cuts underground space around the pools, creates one entrance to three separate memorial facilities and raises to street level the names of the 2,979 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 trade center bombing.
The nonprofit memorial foundation had been in charge of building the memorial, as well as fund raising and, eventually, operating it. Critics of the foundation had said it should focus on fund raising instead of design and construction.
On Thursday, the foundation formally launched a national fundraising campaign, reaching out for private donations months before the fifth anniversary of the attacks. The foundation has raised $130 million privately and, after initially announcing a $500 million goal, now said it must raise $170 million for the memorial to be built and open by 2009.
The campaign will feature ads in newspapers and on Web sites, television and radio.
The Port Authority - a government agency controlled by the governors of New York and New Jersey - has slowly been taking greater responsibility for all projects on the 16-acre site. In April it took control of building two out of five planned skyscrapers, including the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. It is the only builder to complete construction of anything at ground zero - a temporary commuter-rail hub that opened in 2003.
AMY WESTFELDT
Associated Press
NEW YORK - The government agency that owns the World Trade Center site is taking over construction of the Sept. 11 memorial, following recommendations that the move could trim spiraling costs.
But the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also said the agency could back out of the agreement if the price of the project exceeds the latest estimate of $510 million.
"We're going to try and reconcile the numbers. No one has agreed to build it for a number greater" than $510 million, Chairman Anthony Coscia said.
The boards of the Port Authority and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation voted Thursday to have the Port Authority build the memorial instead of the nonprofit memorial foundation.
Officials have already approved a new, less-expensive version of the "Reflecting Absence" design after contractors estimated in May it would cost close to $1 billion.
Preliminary memorial construction began in March and stopped two months later when the cost estimates came out. The memorial foundation suspended private fund raising and its president quit, while Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed a developer to cut costs.
The latest estimate assumes savings because having the site's owner take over would cut down on duplications of services and would reduce the number of people involved. The Port Authority had previously offered to take over the memorial construction, but had been turned down.
The new design for the square pools with cascading waterfalls set above the twin towers' footprints cuts underground space around the pools, creates one entrance to three separate memorial facilities and raises to street level the names of the 2,979 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 trade center bombing.
The nonprofit memorial foundation had been in charge of building the memorial, as well as fund raising and, eventually, operating it. Critics of the foundation had said it should focus on fund raising instead of design and construction.
On Thursday, the foundation formally launched a national fundraising campaign, reaching out for private donations months before the fifth anniversary of the attacks. The foundation has raised $130 million privately and, after initially announcing a $500 million goal, now said it must raise $170 million for the memorial to be built and open by 2009.
The campaign will feature ads in newspapers and on Web sites, television and radio.
The Port Authority - a government agency controlled by the governors of New York and New Jersey - has slowly been taking greater responsibility for all projects on the 16-acre site. In April it took control of building two out of five planned skyscrapers, including the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. It is the only builder to complete construction of anything at ground zero - a temporary commuter-rail hub that opened in 2003.
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