Page 57 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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CHAPTER 7: TWIN TOWERS – 1993 & 2001

Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (CCASA)

The twin towers of the World Trade Center were more than just iconic buildings. They were proof of New
Yorkers believing in themselves and what they could do on their own. This is evidence of self pride in this
country. The towers were built at a time when the future seemed uncertain. The buildings brought a halt to the
decline of lower Manhattan. These towers became symbols of New York City and a representation of strength in
the United States. The World Trade Center was planned in the early 1960s by the Downtown-Lower Manhattan
Development Association. Chase Manhattan Bank chairman David Rockefeller, founder of the development
association as well as New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, promoted the project. In 1962, the Port Authority
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of New York and New Jersey began approval of plans to build the center.

Minoru Yamasaki and Associates of Michigan were hired as architect. Yamasaki design included two huge
towers. Critics charged that a large monolith would rob New York of character and ruin its skyline. Nevertheless,
the project was approved and construction began in 1966. In order to create the 16-acre World Trade Center site,
five streets were closed off and 164 buildings were demolished. Construction required the excavation of more
than 1.2 million cubic yards of earth, which was used to create 23.5 acres of land along the Hudson River, which
has now become part of Battery Park City in lower Manhattan.
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The north tower was opened for business on December 1970 while the south tower was completed on January
1972. Both towers were dedicated in April 1973. They were the world's tallest buildings for only a short time,
until the Sears Tower in Chicago was completed in May 1973. These towers were an icon among the tallest
buildings in the world at the time of their destruction on Sept. 11, 2001. Four additional buildings and a hotel
were built around a central landscaped plaza, which then completed the complex. The mall at the World Trade
Center, which was located immediately below the plaza, was the largest shopping mall in lower Manhattan. The

83 Esterow, Milton (September 21, 1962). "Architect Named for Trade Center". The New York Times.