The Port Authority issued its long-awaited report setting a new road map for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the ass-kicking, name-taking final say on when our city's great shame will be replaced by memorials, museums, trains and gleaming glass towers filled with worker bees of uncertain employment. Now, the issued press release just deals with the parts of the plan the Port Authority is in charge of (Freedom Tower, Santiago Calatrava's PATH station, the extension of Greenwich Street, etc.), but it is believed that developer Larry Silverstein will deliver Towers 3 and 4 in 2012, and Tower 2 (the diamondy one) a year later. On to the details!
September 11, 2011: As previously reported, the aim is to have the September 11 Memorial open for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. According to the PA, "To make this commitment, the Port Authority developed a construction solution that allows the roof of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s mezzanine to be built first instead of last as had been originally programmed. That roof will serve as the floor of the Memorial Plaza and allow the project to be accelerated."
2012: The new Greenwich Street, "the front door to Towers 2, 3 and 4, and a key access point to the Memorial" will be completed between the second and fourth quarters of 2012. Hey, that's ahead of schedule!
2012: The Vehicle Security Center, the underground access point for the commercial development on the site and one of the tricky projects that has been holding everything back, will be completed between the first and third quarters of 2012.
2013: The underground September 11 Museum will be completed between the first and second quarters of 2013.
2013: One World Trade Center, aka the Freedom Tower, is scheduled for completion between the second and fourth quarters of 2013.
2013-2014: Oh, Santiago. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub will be completed between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014 (we'll go ahead and assume 2014), at a cost of $3.2 billion. By the way, that's more expensive than the Freedom Tower, which will cost $3.1 billion.
And there you have it. One thing that seems to be forgotten is the Frank Gehry-designed Performing Arts building, the white block between the Freedom Tower and Tower 2 in the model shot above. Did they just kill the thing, or is that crazy GehryTheaterTrain idea across the street still in play?
· World Trade Center Redevelopment Coverage [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.
