Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down
GMA: Adam Lambert, No; Chris Brown, Yes
Family Gets Early Christmas Gift From Ellen DeGeneres
Mayor: Sex Trafficking Victims, Please Speak Up
Street Artist Proposes on Subway Signage
(Rendering courtesy Squared Design, Snøhetta and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center.)
Architect Craig Dykers (of Norwegian-based design firm Snøhetta ) was joined by Mayor Bloomberg and other officials at 7 World Trade Center this morning to unveil new renderings for a downsized World Trade Center memorial museum and pavilion at the site of the former twin towers. The $80 million polygonal pavilion, which is being financed by New York State, will range in height from 57 to 72 feet and have about 40,000 square feet to use for public programs and museum exhibitions intended to "tell the story of the events of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993."
Located between the waterfalls and reflecting pools marking the towers’ location, and surrounded by a grove of oak trees that will mature to a height of approximately 50 feet, the pavilion will serve as the gateway into the underground galleries. One of the most striking aspects of the pavilion is its glass and steel atrium along the northwest corner, where two iconic "tridents" salvaged from base of the twin towers will be placed. According to Snøhetta, the tridents will "create an immediate visual reference to the distinctive ‘Gothic arch’ motif of the twin towers. And, in their re-erection at the site, they will convey strength, fortitude, resilience, survival and hope."
The ground floor will have ticket windows, and a large security screening area. The second floor is to house a 180-seat auditorium, a private room for relatives of 9/11 victims, and a small cafe. Floor three is strictly for ventilation and mechanical equipment related to the nearby World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the 1 train. The museum is to open in 2012, a year after the memorial plaza, and it's unclear if there will be an admission fee. The annual maintenance costs are expected to be in the $50 million range, but according to the Times, Joseph Daniels, president of the museum, promises, “If we can get the money from other sources, we won’t charge."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Maybe they'll build it in time for the next attacks.
charging to get into a memorial...what a joke.
ugly.stupid.wasteful...
what a way to honor those who died or were injured!
Where's Maya ling when you need her. The Vietnam War Memorial is the absolute best example of how to honor a tragic event. This is over done and doesn't honor those who died there. Let them charge what ever they want, I'll never go there.
You hope it's 2012...
Not worth the price of admission.
$50 MILLION a year in maintenance?? There is so much more you could do with that kind of money, especially in a state that faces such a huge deficit.
Well i think it looks beautiful
By the way the Vietnam memorial never really said much to me, and definitely did not help me understand what happened. The Korean war memorial does a much better job I think.
So American, replace one spectacle with another, that will INSURE there is no understanding and mobilization. Support our Dupes.
At this point the area is just another tourist attraction. I'm sure tour buses still drive by so people can gape a the hole and take pictures out front.
This fact used to bother me - especially when I made a trip down there to think or look. But now.. I dunno.. it just seems like another construction site. The hype and the fact that its taken this long make the whole escapade a joke. Far removed from whatever dignity the site could have had - and we really could have used a dignifed place to mourn a few years ago.
Might as well charge if its just going to be another flag waving tourist site.
Its possible for something to be both a tourist site and a place of memorial. Look at the pyramids!
I think it's interesting to note that the city of Boston, often overlooked in remembrance of the tragedy, now has two memorials.
Check out this piece for more info on how Boston has outpaced New York.
http://blogs.journalism.cuny.edu/interactivefundamentals/2008/09/11/7-years-on/