Tweet
An illustration of "Freedom Tower."
A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was unveiled Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper replacing the destroyed towers.
The ceremony on Sunday marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch.
Gov. George E. Pataki said he chose July 4 to begin rebuilding to show that the terrorists who attacked New York on Sept. 11, 2001, didn't destroy America's faith in freedom.
"How badly our enemies underestimated the resiliency of this city and the resolve of these United States," Pataki said. "In less than three years, we have more than just plans on paper - we place here today the cornerstone, the foundation of a new tower."
The stone unveiled Sunday, to be put in place as a foundation stone later in the morning, is granite from the Adirondack Mountains, flecked with the New York state gemstone, garnet.
It is inscribed: "To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom. - July Fourth, 2004."
The ceremony was included remarks by New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the 13-year-old son of a Port Authority police officer killed on Sept. 11.
Completion of the Freedom Tower is scheduled for 2009, and trade center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has plans to build four more towers between 2009 and 2015.
Also planned for the site are a rail hub, a memorial that transforms the twin towers' footprints into reflecting pools, and cultural space including several small theaters.
The Freedom Tower is set to rise in a corner of the site that still holds the ruins of a parking garage. At 1,776 feet, a height meant to evoke the year of America's independence, it will be the tallest skyscraper in the world, organizers say.
Critics have questioned whether all five towers will be built, especially after a jury verdict this year cut the insurance proceeds Silverstein is seeking to pay for the development from a possible $7 billion to a maximum of $4.5 billion.
Silverstein still hasn't signed an anchor tenant for the Freedom Tower, but said he has more than enough money to complete it with insurance proceeds. He has said he will use "traditional financing methods" to pay for the rest of the development.
Source: AP