NEW YORK -- Lower Manhattan will have a new World Trade Center within five years, redevelopment leaders say, but it is unclear how that will happen and whether the complex will look like the plan chosen this week.
Architect Daniel Libeskind envisions a trade center that preserves the original foundation with a sunken space for a museum and memorial to the nearly 2,800 victims of Sept. 11. His design also imagines a spire stretching more than a third of a mile into the sky, adjacent to several smaller office buildings, cultural facilities and parcels of open space.
His plan beat eight others unveiled in December because it "presents the most compelling vision for the future," said John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency charged with overseeing that process.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Libeskind are among those who say the site, now a dusty pit, will be bustling with new developments within five years. The process of realizing Libeskind's vision, however, already is a tangle of questions that redevelopment officials struggle to answer.
What will the project cost? "Many billions," Whitehead says, "but there are so many different parts of it, I don't know the total."
Libeskind has estimated the cost of his design at $330 million, but that figure does not include many other costs like the planned transportation hub and the memorial.
Who will pay for it? Insurance payments, public money and some federal disaster aid is expected to help fund the project, but no one has laid out specifics. In response to the question, Gov. George Pataki said, "I'm very confident that this is not only an inspiring plan, it's a realistic plan."
Several funding issues remain uncertain:
Developer Larry Silverstein, who holds the lease, is battling his insurers in federal court to try to prove that the Sept. 11, 2001, disaster that destroyed the twin towers was two attacks, which would double the payout of $3.2 billion.
Still under consideration is the mayor's proposed land swap deal involving the trade center site and the city's two airports. Under the proposal, the city would reap billions of dollars in insurance proceeds by taking control of the 16-acre property from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which currently owns the land.
With so many agencies and officials, who is in charge now?
"I honestly don't know," said Roland Betts, head of the LMDC's redevelopment planning committee, adding that the LMDC is hoping for direction from the mayor and governor.
Officials appear to agree on some points -- that the next phase will focus attention on the memorial design, to be selected in a competition that begins this spring. The other immediate project is planning the transportation hub.
And most say in general terms that the new World Trade Center will resemble Libeskind's design, but it is impossible to know how closely construction will mimic his model. Those involved in the process often refer to the selected plan as a road map.
"There is still a long road ahead of us. And thanks to Studio Daniel Libeskind, we now have the best map with which to start the journey," Whitehead said.
Port Authority executive director Joseph Seymour said that all agencies involved will be careful to ensure that future plans are "consistent with the high standards" established by Libeskind and his firm.
Maintaining the integrity of the design will be easier for Libeskind than for most architects on typical projects, because of his dedication and the public scrutiny of the redevelopment, says Peter Tagiuri, an architect and head of the Architecture Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Tagiuri said the intensely public process protects the plans, in a sense, from the usual permitting and zoning that can "eat away at a project."
"I imagine that the spirit of the design will remain the same and some of the specifics will change to accommodate concerns, but Libeskind is principled and able to maintain the integrity of his work," Tagiuri said. "It's not likely to be diluted."
Victims' relatives, many of whom praised Libeskind's design for its preservation of the twin towers' foundation, are sure to be closely following the process.
"Everyone needs to stay on top of this so that it isn't compromised by the requirements that we haven't seen yet," said Nikki Stern, whose husband was killed in the attack.
Tagiuri added that the goal of any architect is that the envisioned buildings are constructed with the original intention of the design, but with improvements discovered along the way that could not be conceived in the sketches.
The governor said that the ultimate goal to build 10 million square feet of office space, in addition to the planned retail and cultural sites, will be "built over time as the market demands," but he added that he is confident that will happen "a lot quicker than people think."
© 2004 by WNBC.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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