(Part of UPI's Special Report on Sept. 11)
NEW YORK (UPI) -- The World Trade Center was more than office space, it was a symbol -- and there is wide-ranging disagreement over what symbol should be built on the 16-acre site where the Twin Towers once stood.
"(A memorial) should not symbolize the loss of our world before Sept. 11 or of an America that no longer exists. It should symbolize our survival and our triumph," former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wrote in Time magazine.
"If it were up to me, I'd devote the entire 16 acres to the memorial. A soaring structure should dominate the site, visible for miles to demonstrate the spirit of those who gave their lives to defend freedom," he said.
Alfredo Andia, a professor at the School of Architecture at Florida International University, in Miami, said the symbolism is polarized.
"On the one hand you have a group who want to rebuild the Twin Towers, this time 111-stories high as an act of defiance to the terrorists, and a group who wants the entire 16 acres to be a memorial park in honor of the almost 3,000 who died there," Andia told United Press International. "The only way I can think of reconciling these views is to find a way of freezing the site for 10 years and then rethinking what should be done then."
The original architect saw the World Trade Center as a symbol of world peace.
"World trade means world peace and consequently the World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace," said architect Minoru Yamasaki in "Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America."
Others saw the Twin Towers as symbols less lofty.
"It was a sight that cried out: Money! Power! Technology!" said Anthony Lewis, London Bureau Chief of the New York Times when he first saw the World Trade Center.
While some may have thought the World Trade Center symbolized the might of the market economy, ironically, it was built as a government project originally budgeted at $500 million but ending up costing $1.5 billion.
"The original 110-story Twin Towers were a boondoggle for taxpayers with a 'build it and they will come' mentality," Brian C. Anderson, senior editor of City Journal, told UPI. "But 'they' did not come and it was an example of the worst in utopian urban planning that took place in the mid-century that sucked the life out of neighborhoods."
Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said no government agency or authority should be put in charge of planning or executing the memorial project.
"The result will be political infighting and paralysis," he said. "If something finally does get built, it will rise years too late, at much too high a cost, and will probably bear no relation to what the market needs."
However, the World Trade Center was built by a government agency -- the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- and the rebuilding will be determined by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. a city/state agency.
"Gov. George Pataki pretty much calls the tune on the building because he controls the money and currently he is listening to the families of the victims so that resulted in the 'no building on the footprints' pledge," Malanga said.
A world trade facility had been under consideration in New York City since the end of World War II and in the late 1950s the Port Authority took over the project. By 1962 the site and the architect were chosen.
The Port Authority wanted a total of 10 million square feet of office space and Yamasaki considered more than 100 different building configurations before deciding on the Twin Towers.
One World Trade Center was ready for its first tenants in late 1970; Two World Trade Center was finished in 1973. However, tenants did not flock to the buildings and the high-priced real estate was turned into state offices. Only until the economic boom of the mid-1990s did the towers fill with tenants and state offices moved to a less expensive location.
Weeks before the terrorist attacks, the Port Authority reached a deal with Silverstein Properties and Westfield America, which agreed to lease the towers and other facilities for $3.2 billion over 99 years. Larry Silverstein is currently in court with the insurance companies.
"Whether Silverstein gets the money for one buildings or two, he will have at least $3.7 billion to rebuild buildings and we have $20 billion from the federal government which will build infrastructure including a 'grand central' train/intermodel station," Matthew Higgins, spokesman for the LMDC, told UPI.
"There is no exact timeline, but we estimate it might be 2008 until we see something done. This is a unique situation, to whatever buildings are built, we have a memorial, as well as a transportation infrastructure to consider."
In July, the LMDC unveiled six "rough" plans that called for a permanent memorial, 11 million square feet of office space, 600,000 square feet of retail space, a hotel and transportation hub.
But the reaction -- mostly negative -- changed the design parameters and the designers.
"There were about 4,500 people at the Javits Center who commented and another 6,000 e-mails that resulted in new program elements," Higgins said. "We will select up to five teams in September to prepare additional concept plans."
The new concept plans must include:
-- A tall symbol or structure that would be recognized around the world.
-- Preservation of the footprints of the Twin Towers for memorial space, precluding commercial development on those spots.
-- A mixture of commercial and retail space on and/or off the site.
-- A grand promenade.
-- Restoration of the street grid within the former 16-acre "superblock."
-- An integrated transit center serving Lower Manhattan for PATH (New Jersey) and subway passengers.
-- Residential housing.
-- A museum, performing arts center, or other cultural spaces.
-- Public open spaces, such as parks and plazas.
The teams are expected to have all work ready for public review by the end of the year.
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(This article is part of UPI's Special Report on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. It was reported by Alex Cukan in Albany, N.Y.).
