By: Amy Westfeldt
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - A revised design for the World Trade Center
memorial was unveiled Wednesday and includes a subtle tribute
to the rescue workers and an underground room where visitors
can see twisted steel beams, a crushed fire truck and other
artifacts from Sept. 11.
The additions received a warm response - a distinct change in
the often contentious process of remembering the nearly 3,000
victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"These revisions show that the Sept. 11 families and the general
public have finally been given a voice in this process," said Coalition
of 9/11 Families executive board member Patricia Reilly, whose sister
died in the attack.
Construction on the memorial is expected to begin by the end of this year.
One of the changes to Michael Arad's "Reflecting Absence" memorial
addressed the sensitive issue of whether rescue workers should be
singled out in some way.
In the new design, Arad places all of the victims' names randomly around
two reflecting pools, a visual reminder of the "haphazard brutality of the
attacks," but he designates rescue workers by placing their agency's
insignia alongside their names.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta
said they were satisfied with the tribute.
"This is a simple, elegant, quite dignified way to remember," said Scoppetta,
whose department lost 343 members when the twin 110-story towers collapsed.
The leader of a group that sought separate recognition for firefighters expressed
disappointment in the decision to list names randomly. "We don't go for that,"
said John Finucane, a retired firefighter. "It's a very poor way to say thank you."
The revisions also add a forest of trees, benches and grass to what was once
open space and place a cultural center at the northeast corner of the site.
Underground, an interpretive center will include lecture rooms, a research library
and pieces from the ruins. Some critics of the original design complained that it
did not get across the horror and violence of the attacks.
The redesign also features a ramp leading down to the museum that passes exposed
parts of the slurry wall, the last remnant of the tower complex. Family members had
pushed to use the wall in the design.
The memorial also will pay tribute to the six victims of the 1993 bombing of
the trade center.
The changes unveiled by Arad and his architect partner Peter Walker were
worked out in emotional meetings with family members and in sessions with
the 13-member jury that announced the winning design Jan. 6.
"Every way you find to do this satisfies some, but causes pain and anguish to
another," said Arad, whose voice cracked several times during his
presentation Wednesday.
The jury negotiated the changes with Arad after his design was selected from
5,201 submissions sent in from 63 countries and 49 states.
"It's going to help people come to terms," said juror Maya Lin, designer of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "It's going to bring us all hope."
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