Posted on 12/05/2005 8:40:36 PM PST by Calpernia
Manhattan rebuilding officials opened the bidding for a construction contract for the World Trade Center memorial on Monday, three months before a planned groundbreaking.
The trade center site's owner repeated an offer to build the memorial but said it wouldn't formally apply for the job.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. put out a request for proposals for a construction manager to oversee building of the memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a memorial museum. Late last month, the LMDC said it would cost $490 million to build both facilities.
The construction manager would have to guarantee a maximum budget and pay for any extra costs. A memorial groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for March, while the memorial and the museum are scheduled to open in 2009, rebuilding officials said.
``This is an important next step in our efforts to build a lasting memorial at the World Trade Center site,'' said John C. Whitehead, chairman of the foundation and of the LMDC.
The manager could eventually oversee building of a cultural/visitors' center and a performing arts center on the site. Those facilities have not been budgeted or completely designed. The foundation has privately raised $102.3 million of a $500 million goal to help pay for the memorial complex and other cultural space.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16-acre site and is building a $2 billion transit hub there, last month offered to oversee construction of the memorial. Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke favorably of the possibility.
On Monday, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said the bistate agency remained ``interested in the process'' but did not intend to bid for the project.
``Government agencies don't typically bid on things,'' Coleman said. ``We remain willing and able to assist the memorial foundation in any way possible, if we're asked to help out with this service.''
The foundation said it is committed to an open and competitive bidding process and would welcome all proposals that meet the requirements.
The ``Reflecting Absence'' memorial, designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, marks the fallen twin towers' footprints with water-filled voids, bearing names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The memorial museum's plans include an immersive exhibit reliving the attacks, pieces of trade center steel and access to the towers' foundations.
ping
Hopefully, there will not be any crescents in this memorial.
No crescents to date, thankfully.
We are watching too closely.
btt
BUMP
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