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Cleanup of the World Trade Center site officially
ended Thursday morning, May 30, marking the culmination of a nine-month
recovery effort to search for remains of the people who died during the
terrorist attack on New York City's Twin Towers and to clear the area
of the devastation and debris. The work ended ahead of schedule and under
budget. Control of the site now reverts to the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey, which owns the land.
The solemn milestone was marked at 10:29 a.m.the
time the second tower collapsedwith a ceremonial ringing of a New
York Fire Department bell to commemorate the 343 firefighters lost in
the aftermath of the attacks. Then, an empty stretcher with a folded flag
was carried out of the site by an honor guard of representatives of New
York City police officers, Port Authority police, firefighters, and other
organizations and volunteers involved in recovery efforts, to symbolize
the victims whose remains have not been found or identified.
A truck carrying the last steel beam from the site
followed the stretcher. Thousands attended the ceremony, which was intended
for city officials, Ground Zero workers, and victims' families.
The wordless ceremony culminated an extra-emotional
week for many in New York City. During the past few months, what has become
apparent is though the site may be clear of debris, the path for what
will become of the Lower Manhattan complex is not so obvious.
Urban planning team
named
New York City architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners
LLP was chosen by the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development
Corporation (LMDC) to help develop a plan for the World Trade Center site.
The two groups made the announcement May 22 after reviewing proposals
from 15 firms. Beyer Blinder Belle will be assisted by Parsons Brinckerhoff,
a transportation consulting firm, and 11 other specialty design firms.
The Port Authority and the LMDC have asked the team
to work with families of September 11 victims, lessees, advisory committees,
area residents, and the general public to develop, by the end of the year,
a plan describing proposed land uses for the site and adjacent areas.
The process will go forward in three stages, the first of which will analyze
proposed transportation improvement projects and develop six land use
options.
The contract for the Beyer Blinder Belle team is
valued at approximately $3 million. The Preliminary Blueprint for Lower
Manhattan, developed by the LMDC, will serve as the planning framework.
"This team was chosen on the basis of experience,
technical qualifications, personnel, and understanding of New York and
the surrounding region," said Port Authority Executive Director Joseph
J. Seymour. "They have also shown a striking sense of vision, personal
commitment, and sensitivity to the nature of a project that is unlike
any other."
Choosing the team
After some controversy about the way firms were contacted to develop designs
for the World Trade Center site, an advertised Request for Proposals from
the LMDC and the Port Authority resulted in 15 submissions by groups representing
more than 90 architecture, engineering, and planning firms. A team representing
the Port Authority and the LMDC evaluated the proposals, and invited the
six highest-rated teams to make oral presentations. According to the Port
Authority, the committee further reviewed the two leading submissions
and made its final recommendation to the executive director of the Port
Authority and the president of the LMDC, who reviewed and approved it.
It has been reported that Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn was the other
firm in line for the job.
Beyer Blinder Belle is an established New York architecture
firm whose projects include the renovation of New York's Grand Central
Terminal, Governors Island, Ellis Island, the master plans for Columbia
University, the remodeling of Rockefeller Center, and renovations at LaGuardia
Airport. Parsons Brinckerhoff has worked on transportation projects that
include work for the Access to the Region's Core Project Farley Post Office
Building Redevelopment.
"The selection of an urban design and transportation
consultant to advise the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the
Port Authority is an important milestone in developing a sensitive, inclusive
plan for rebuilding Lower Manhattan," New York Gov. George Pataki
said. "During this process, we will draw on the best ideas, meet
with all interested groups, and build the broadest consensus possible."
Beyer Blinder Belle will not have to start from
scratch. The New York Times notes
that hundreds of ideas have poured in from architecture firms, civic groups,
and individuals who have their own ideas of what a post-9/11 Lower Manhattan
should look like. In addition, the Times
reports, Larry A. Silverstein, who holds the lease to the World Trade
Center properties, has had his architects, Skidmore Owings & Merrill,
draw up plans for the site, and some transportation rebuilding projects
have already begun.
The Beyer Blinder Belle partnership includes:
Olin Partnership, landscape planning and design
Urbanonics (WBE), economics and programming
Geotechnical Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, civil and subsurface
PACO Group, Inc., security planning
Abrams-Cherwony & Associates, bus transit planning
Philip Habib & Associates, traffic forecasting
SIMCO Engineering, P.C., traffic database
Steven Winter Associates, Inc., sustainable design
Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C., structural engineering
VJ Associates, cost estimating
The Environmental Simulation Center, Ltd., 3-D computer database.
The LMDC also is working simultaneously to establish
a process, in consultation with the LMDC Family Advisory Council, for
developing concepts for an appropriate memorial. The groups expect the
plan to be in place by July.
Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects.
All rights reserved.
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