The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 187

The 9/11 Memorial Museum Foundation is going to try and do its best to get the museum open in conjunction with the memorial, but no guarantees.

The foundation issued the statement after the Daily News reported exclusively that the museum opening has been pushed back to mid-2010 - months after the 2009 debut of the adjoining World Trade Center Memorial.

Foundation Vice President Lynn Rasic noted in yesterday's statement that 2010 is still "a conservative estimate" of when the museum will open.

Figures.

Will the changeover in Albany affect the timing of any of the rebuilding at Ground Zero. Quite possibly. With Pataki done, Eliot Spitzer will get to make his mark and leave his own imprint on the rebuilding. If there are delays, it will spill over into the opening of the memorial and the museum, unless all involved in the rebuilding process ensure that the construction is expedited. From earlier this year, Spitzer has made it known he didn't particularly care for the way in which the rebuilding was going (not to mention his personal vendetta with LMDC Chair Whitehead). I'd agree. The rebuilding process hasn't been a bright spot for anyone, let alone Pataki who was sorely hoping to have the rebuilt Ground Zero as his permanent legacy. Pataki's pit is more like it. Serious construction will not occur until well into Spitzer's term, unless Spitzer sees fit to reopen the design and construction.

All of this means that the 2009/2010 opening of the memorial and museum are long shots, especially if Spitzer intends to reopen the discussion on the design, construction, and costs.

Meanwhile, here's an interview by Fortune Magazine with Santiago Calatrava, who is designing the transit hub at Ground Zero. His design has not garnered the kind of criticism that other aspects of the rebuilding plan because of the essential nature of the transit hub to Lower Manhattan and that his design was quite widely appreciated. This question and answer are revealing:

Do you think what the public witnessed at Ground Zero over the past five years - fighting between architects, developers, and politicians - will hurt the profession?

No. Because, you see, people are anxious to see buildings. People want to see things happening. You have to remember that these projects sometimes take years. I am working on a project in my home town, Valencia [on the east coast of Spain], and it has been in progress for 16 years.

You have to have endurance in this profession. You start a project as a young person and then at the end you are another person. You are ready to go for your pension. I don't know of anyone who can make something in two to three years. We are spoiled. We think we should get things so fast.

People want to see results, and they're simply still in the offing. Fancy models and shiny publications do little to show progress at Ground Zero - actual construction will show progress. Deconstructing Fiterman Hall and Deutsche Bank will show progress, but all are shrouded under the ongoing search for additional remains, which were first uncovered more than two weeks ago when ConEd went through an underground utility vault in preparation for construction in the area. It's been more than five years, and very little to show for the rebuilding efforts by the city, state, and federal government. The private sector has done a far better job in rebuilding - witness 7WTC.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein, mount sinai, respiratory ailment, wtc cough, bloomberg.