The names of those who were killed in the 9/11 attack are still covered and surround the memorial pools at the World Trade Center memorial. / THOMAS P. COSTELLO/APPstaff photographer
WASHINGTON — It seemed impossible only a few years ago, but a 9/11 memorial will open at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York by the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey said Tuesday.
Until 2008, it appeared the memorial wouldn't be ready in time — until the port authority did a top-to-bottom review of the project after years of grappling with unrealistic plans, budgets and construction timetables, Chris Ward told reporters at the National Press Club.
"We lost sight of really the more prosaic questions, the realistic questions: 'How do you build this project?' How do you get it done?'" said Ward, who has led the 9/11 Memorial project since May 2008. "Today we can stand here and say we've turned the project around."
The memorial plaza will feature two large squares where the Twin Towers stood, with water constantly flowing in and out of them. By the time the plaza opens, officials will have planted about 220 of the more than 300 oak trees the site will eventually include.
And visitors will be able to read the names of the nearly 3,000 victims on walls.
An underground museum at the site isn't expected to open until late 2012, but a soaring pavilion marking the museum's entrance will be almost complete by the 10th anniversary, Ward said.
The memorial is only one part of the effort to redevelop the former World Trade Center.
The port authority also is building a 104-story office tower called One World Trade Center, which will be New York's tallest building when completed next year. Seventy-six stories have been built and 80 will be done by the anniversary on Sept. 11, Ward said.
"New Yorkers judge progress by skyscrapers," he said. "New York City will have its exclamation point in One World Trade Center."
A massive underground transit center rivaling Grand Central Station nearby also is being built.
A private developer is building a separate office tower that should be complete in the next few years, and plans to build two more later.
The port authority is issuing bonds to raise its $11 billion share of the project. The federal government is contributing $2.2 billion for the transit center, with the rest coming from the private developer, Ward said.
Critics have raised a host of objections over the years.
Glenn Corbett, an adviser to 9/11 survivor families and a former assistant fire chief in Waldwick, said families weren't consulted much during the site planning.
Though the port authority insists the office towers and the museum will exceed New York City's fire and building codes, Corbett said no one knows for sure because the site is exempt from city regulations.
Corbett contends that the original Twin Towers were built with inferior, untested fireproofing materials, and each had three stairwells instead of the four required under the city's code.
The museum's design and ownership also have drawn criticism.
For instance, the privately run museum will house victims' remains despite objections from many family members, Corbett said in a telephone interview.
He said the former World Trade Center site should have been converted into a national park that people could visit for free. Instead, they may have to pay as much as $25 per person to visit the museum.
Michael Frazier, spokesman for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, said in an email that visits to the memorial plaza will be free. An entry fee for the museum hasn't been set.
The memorial plaza and museum are "overly expensive and complicated," Corbett said. "If you look at it in the abstract, the memorial memorializes the tower more than the people who were killed there."
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On the Web: National September 11 Memorial & Museum:
www.911memorial.org
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