The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 6

Solicitiations for bids to complete the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building have gotten quite a bit of interest.

Six companies are vying for the contract to finish demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building, allaying fears that no company would want to touch the seemingly cursed project, The Post has learned.

Among the bidders is Gramercy Wrecking and Environmental, a Westbury, L.I., company that's been doing repairs on the problem-plagued tower since an Aug. 18 inferno there killed two firefighters.

Other likely bidders, sources say, include LVI Environmental, which had previously bid on the project, and a joint venture between Pinnacle Environmental and P.A.L. Environmental Safety, which is demolishing nearby Fiterman Hall. The Massachusetts-based Testa Corp. is also in the running.

Some of those companies may have been interested in the demolition work when the bidding first started, but lost out to the politically connected John Galt company (an amalagmation of several officials of other construction firms with a dubious history).

Meanwhile, the plans for Fiterman Hall are moving forward, which is a good thing, since the hulking remains cast a long shadow over the plaza fronting the gleaming 7WTC and the park fronting Greenwich Street.

This isn't good news - the Salvatore Calatrava designed transit hub is behind schedule and may not be completed until 2012 or 2013 at the earliest, which throws off the schedule for the cultural center as well.

Expect the costs to swell as well as demand for steel and other construction materials continues to rise.

99 Church, which is owned by Larry Silverstein will go upscale, but with Robert AM Stern doing the architectural work, not Costas Kondylis as earlier reported.