Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 90

It's the year end edition of the rebuilding of Ground Zero series, and it ends more or less as it began the year. The former Deutsche Bank building remains a hulking ruin looming large over the rest of the Ground Zero site. In more than a month since demolition resumed, only two floors have been removed. There is no timetable for when the building will finally be gone, despite the fact that the site is critical to the rebuilding of the rest of the Ground Zero site.

Construction of 2WTC and 3WTC remains shrouded in mystery because of the ongoing flap between Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority.

Yet, there is some good news to be had. Fiterman Hall is gone and a new tower will rise in its stead adjacent to Silverstein's 7WTC. The Goldman Sachs building across from Ground Zero was finished this year, and the Freedom Tower is finally rising above street level as two tower cranes and 2 heavy lift cranes have been raising steel more than 150 feet into the air (which is still less than 10% of the Freedom Tower's final height of 1,776 feet). Construction at 4WTC is also underway, with two tower cranes now operating on that site as well.

Work on the memorial and transit hub both continue apace, and the Port Authority's website provides semi-regular updates, including video and photos of construction progress.

UPDATE:
Curbed has more photos of Ground Zero, including an insider look at the 1WTC/Freedom Tower construction. The 9/11 Memorials are taking shape, including the walls that will eventually comprise the waterfalls at the heart of each of the tower "footprints".

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