The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 103

Construction on the WTC memorial is scheduled to begin this morning with the forming up of molds for the concrete foundations. However, there is still the possibility of lawsuits bringing the whole matter to a screeching halt.

The Coalition of 9/11 Families last week filed a lawsuit charging that the memorial would damage the historic footprints. Preservation groups have made similar arguments in letters to rebuilding officials. A court hearing was scheduled Monday, and other family members planned a protest rally.

"There is always opportunity until concrete is poured," said Rosaleen Tallon, the sister of a firefighter killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Tallon began sleeping outside her brother Sean's firehouse across from the trade center site last week, and said Monday's construction work wouldn't stop her protest.

The "Reflecting Absence" design, by architect Michael Arad, was chosen two years ago out of more than 5,200 competition entries. It marks the fallen towers near their footprints with two stone reflecting pools at street level, surrounded by trees. The pools go 70 feet below ground, where visitors find surrounding each pool the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 trade center bombing.

Families have said the memorial would dishonor the dead by placing their names below street level and might be difficult to evacuate quickly.

And some families have also said that they do not want anything built on the footprints of the towers. Those two ideals cannot coexist, and the footprints are now more about a spiritual footprint than the original footprints, parts of which are occupied by the PATH train tracks that ran through the complex.

The families opposing this plan are having a noontime protest.

The Gothamist has more, and tomorrow also marks a deadline day for Silverstein to come to some sort of agreement with the PANY/NJ and the LMDC on rebuilding the office towers.

UPDATE:
Steve Cuozzo recaps the battle at ground zero and lays much of the fault at the feet of Gov. Pataki. He notes that while Silverstein is cantankerous and the Port Authority is notorious for doing its own thing, Silverstein has built 7WTC and the Port Authority has built the temporary PATH station. All the delays and problems trace back to the Governor's office and his decision to establish the LMDC and push the Libeskind master plan.

UPDATE:
Here are some renderings of the Memorial as per the WCBS880.com website. WCBS880 also reports about 100 people showed up to protest the memorial's design and location.

UPDATE:
Marcus emails me this link which goes into the incestuous relationship between various cultural groups and those heading up the LMDC.

Last Wednesday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation handed out $27 million in grants to 63 downtown arts organizations and projects. Six of those groups may have had an inside track on landing that money - their board members or advisors also sit on the board of the LMDC.

That isn't new - as the IFC/The Drawing Center had similar relationships to members of the LMDC.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.