Securing Liberty: Site Below WTC Takes Shape

As the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks quietly fades from memory, another major design element has quietly moved forward at the World Trade Center site: the design of the St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church and a landscaped park that will mask the underground Vehicle Security Center at the =southernmost edge of the site. State of the art security, engineered by Liberty Security Partners, will allow police to x-ray all vehicles on their way in. In addition to the Vehicle Security Center, the performing arts center planned for the World Trade Center site has received a boost after being in limbo for years. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. approved $1 million to hire staff and develop building plans.

Most World Trade Center maps don’t include the Vehicle Security Center or the Greek Orthodox Church, which will sit south of Liberty Street.

It was less than a year ago that the Governor Andrew Cuomo brokered an agreement that allowed the church to return to the site near its former home on Cedar Street.

A decade-long battle with the Port had kept its fate in the courts.
 
Now, the steel latticework of the Vehicle Security Center’s truck ramp is clearly visible from nearby towers. In addition to being the entrance and exit for deliveries, the center of the doughnut-shaped ramp will also support the 60 by 60 foot church sanctuary.

Steve Plate, the Port Authority’s director of construction, said work on the park will begin later this year. AECOM is designing an open space that will swell approximately 30 feet above the Liberty Street entrance to the Vehicle Security Center, creating a man-made hill on the south side of the World Trade Center site.

State of the art security, engineered by Liberty Security Partners, will allow all vehicles to be x-rayed on their way in.

The Greek Orthodox Church will rise another 56 feet above Liberty Street, or 78 feet above the sidewalk below. Architect Nicholas Koutsomitis said that the Port Authority stipulated that the church not rise above the roof of the September 11th Memorial Museum. An additional emergency exit will drop Cedar Street below grade and into the Vehicle Security Center complex.

Fritz Koenig’s Sphere for Plaza Fountain, which sustained substantial damage on 9/11 and now sits in Battery Park, is destined for the Vehicle Security Center site as well. It appears prominently in the renderings, and Port Authority officials have confirmed that the sculpture will be included in the new park.

Related Article:
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, Feb 1, 2012]

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World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Gets Boost

The performing arts center planned for the World Trade Center site has received a boost after being in limbo for years. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. approved $1 million to hire staff and develop building plans.

With the approval, the center could open as planned in 2017.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp had withheld the seed money, citing concerns over the project’s cost and fundraising ability. A board of directors was named to the center last year.

The Frank Gehry-designed center would include a theater for contemporary dance.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp has already committed $155 million for construction. The total cost is estimated at $450 million.

Related Article:
[see ElectricWeb | Blogger, May 27, 2012]