Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 16

Steve Cuozzo is reporting that Santiago Calatrava and the Port Authority aren't playing nice over Calatrava's PATH hub design. Calatrava's trying to amend and append his original soaring vision, while the Port Authority hasn't exactly been commited to any design and is pushing value engineering (using cheaper materials and designs to hold costs, which continue to soar).

Gov. Eliot Spitzer is dithering as the Port Authority muddles along.

Cuozzo thinks that the starchitect ego is getting in the way of the project, but I think that if you've got a developer who has to face a bottom line, the project will get done. David Childs is no slouch in the ego department, and yet he worked with Larry Silverstein to get 7WTC built. Silverstein is working with Childs to get the Fredom Tower built, Robert AM Stern to get 99 Church built, and is working with Sir Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki to build 2, 3, and 4 WTC. Construction on the Ground Zero (2, 3, and 4 WTC) sites has been delayed because site preparation by the Port Authority's contractors have been behind schedule - costing the Port Authority $300,000 per day.

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