Page 76 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable
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                                                  The following is a list of the main parts of the rebuilding of the World
                                                  Trade Center complex.


                                                   One World Trade Center: The 3.8 billion dollar tower should open in
                                                  early 2014, about five years behind schedule. German architect Daniel
                                                  Libeskind, the site’s master planner, envisioned a twisting “Freedom
                                                  Tower” whose height of 1,776 feet matched the year of U.S.
                                                  independence.


                                                   Two World Trade Center: The design by Britain’s Foster and Partners
                                                  has a glazed crystalline form and a diamond-shaped summit and will be
                                                  built only to the street level initially, with completion of the tower
                                                  depending on securing office tenants, according to Silverstein. When
                                                  finished, the 1,278-foot-tall tower will have 3.1 million square feet of
                                                  space.

                                                   Three World Trade Center: Designed by Britain’s Rogers Stirk
                                                  Harbour and Partners, it will stand 1,080 feet high and its facade will
                                                  feature diagonal supports when it opens, targeted for late 2014 or early
                                                  2015. With his insurance proceeds, Silverstein will build the tower up to
                                                  the “podium” level, seven stories high, so that shops can open. To build
                                                  offices over the stores he must first raise 300 million dollars, pre-lease
                                                  400,000 square feet, and secure 1.3 billion dollars of Liberty bonds and
                                                  taxable debt. The city, state and Port Authority will each contribute 200
                                                  million dollars.


                                                   Four World Trade Center: One of Silverstein’s three skyscrapers was
                                                  topped out at 72 stories in June and should open in the autumn of 2013.
                                                  Designed by Japan’s Maki and Associates, the 975-foot tower will be
                                                  clad with a metallic mesh and is fully funded with insurance settlements
                                                  and Liberty bonds, a subsidy Congress created to help revive New York
                                                  City.


                                                   Mass Transit Hub: The elaborate design by Spanish architect Santiago
                                                  Calatrava has been repeatedly simplified to prune its cost, but the final
                                                  price tag is expected to be nearly 4 billion dollars.

                                                  The hub’s two steel-ribbed wings will spring out from the center, and a
                                                  soaring glass roof that will bring natural light to the 250,000 passengers
                                                  expected to travel through the hub each day.


                                                  Scheduled to be finished in mid-2015, the hub should smooth the way
                                                  for riders by interconnecting 11 subway lines and the Path commuter
                                                  trains that link New York to New Jersey.  122

                                                  The financial losses in stocks during the week following September 11,
                                                  2001 totaled 1.4 trillion dollars. This stock market crash greatly exceeds
                                                  the cost of reconstruction of the towers of the World Trade Center.
                                                  Could this be a wakeup call for this nation to turn back to God and obey
                                                  His Laws? Should we seek God and not our rights to pursue happiness
                                                  and lawlessness in this nation?




                                                  Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
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