New marker at ground zero
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, July 4, 2004
NEW YORK – In a ceremony filled with pride and painful memories, New York officials laid a 20-ton slab of granite Sunday as the cornerstone of a new tower at the site of the World Trade Center.
As jets soared overhead, political leaders pledged that construction of the so-called Freedom Tower – which will rise 1,776 feet into the air and be the world’s tallest building – will be finished on schedule by the end of 2008.
“The terrorists who attacked us hoped to break our spirit, but instead they broke our hearts,” said New York Gov. George Pataki, who along with other officials dismissed doubts that financing problems might delay completion of the tower.
“How badly they underestimated the resiliency of this city and the resolve of these United States,” he said. “In less than three years, we have more than just plans on paper – we place here today the cornerstone, the foundation of a new tower.”
Pataki conducted the invitation-only ceremony before several hundred people in the vast concrete pit of ground zero. They entered the site down a ramp, behind a bagpipe procession playing “God Bless America,” “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” and other patriotic songs.
Still, others felt mixed emotions. “I haven’t been here since the first anniversary (of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks) and this still causes a lot of anxiety,” said Charles Wolf, who lost his wife, Katherine, in the attacks. “I have to keep it under control this morning, and this walk down here is not an easy walk.”
Some family organizations have opposed construction of the Freedom Tower, arguing that plans were drawn up too hastily, and that the site – which is all that remains of the former twin towers – is sacred ground that should never be dominated by new office construction.
On Sunday, a cloth draping the cornerstone was pulled away to reveal a simple inscription: “To honor and remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom. – July Fourth, 2004.”
