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Plans for Trade Center Site Taking Shape
By Ronald Drenger
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The redevelopment of the World Trade Center site
moved forward on several fronts last month. Developer Larry Silverstein
presented his plans for a new 7 World Trade Center building to Community
Board 1 and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Port Authority
selected a planning team, announced a timetable, and held its first
public hearing.
Silverstein’s architects publicly unveiled plans on May 13 for
a mostly glass commercial tower on top of a new Con Edison substation,
to replace the destroyed 7 World Trade Center (read "Silverstein
Offers Peek at New 7 World Trade").
The LMDC and Port Authority picked a team led by the firm of Beyer
Blinder Belle to oversee the development of plans for the larger Trade
Center site. The team will review and select rebuilding plans in a
three-phase process that will include five public hearings (see below). |
At the first hearing, on May 23, the public packed
into a Pace University auditorium to speak out on the memorial, designs
for new buildings and the government’s redevelopment process. Many
speakers from the Lower East Side and Chinatown urged the LMDC to pay
more attention to the needs of their communities’ poorer residents
and workers and to build low-income housing on the site.
Design Plans and Public Hearings: A Rebuilding Timetable
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Port Authority said they
will come up with a plan for the World Trade Center site by year’s
end, under the following schedule:
June 5: The
agencies issue a revised Principles and Preliminary Blueprint, and consult
with various interested groups this month.
Mid-July:
They announce up to six development options, as well as the design process
for a permanent memorial.
July 20:
A public forum on redevelopment plans at the Jacob Javits Center, with
5,000 participants.
Early August: Public
hearing Downtown.
Mid-September:
The options are narrowed to three.
October: Two
more public hearings in Lower Manhattan.
Mid-December:
A final site plan is chosen, followed by another hearing.
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