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)