The Baumgarten Report

Reeling under criticism of slow progress, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has issued a new timetable for rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.

The Port Authority now says that the anchor for the site, One World Trade Center, better known as the Freedom Tower, will be completed in 2013 at a projected final cost of more than $3 billion, more than what was originally budgeted, mainly due to the addition of a second observation desk. It was originally anticipated that the Freedom Tower would be completed in 2009.

The World Trade Center Memorial Plaza, which relatives of those who died during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have been pushing for completion, will be largely done, the Port Authority says, by the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Include will be the inscriptions of the names of all those who died in that attack and those who were killed in the first attack on the site on February 26, 1993. The underground museum portion of the project won’t be completed until 2013, coinciding with the opening of the Freedom Tower.

The massive World Trade Center transportation hub is also now scheduled for completion later that year or early in 2014. The cost of the hub actually slightly exceeds the cost of the construction of the Freedom Tower.

The Port Authority says a vehicle security center, through which all vehicles needing access to the site will be required to pass, will be finished before the Freedom Tower is opened.

The new timetable follows three months of intensive meetings between all the major stakeholder groups on the site, spearheaded by a new World Trade Center Steering Committee. The committee was established shortly after David Paterson took over as governor of New York. Concerned about six missed construction deadlines, he directed the Port Authority to come up with a realistic timetable to release to the public.

The construction of the Memorial Plaza is being accelerated under the new plan in order to complete it in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks that brought the Twin Towers down. Construction of the vehicle security center is also being expedited.

Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia said the new timetable is being released to provide “transparency and accountability” to the public.

“We have made substantial progress in rebuilding the World Trade Center site since we took over lead construction responsibility in September 2006,” he said.