Plans For WTC Site Get Mixed Reaction, Include New Hotel

NEW YORK— Six proposals to redevelop the World Trade Center site were released June 16, and included plans for a new full-service hotel to replace the Marriott World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the attacks. The development concepts for the site were met with a decidedly mixed reaction, with critics saying they included too much office space on hallowed ground and had too little imagination, Associated Press reported. Others, however, said the plans included the two most important needs: a strong transportation hub and a powerful memorial to the 2,813 people who died in the rubble. Each proposal calls for a memorial at the 16-acre site. Two proposals would redevelop the so-called “footprints” of the fallen twin towers and put the memorial elsewhere. All plans call for replacing the 11 million square feet of commercial office space and the 600,000 square feet of retail space lost in the Sept. 11 attack. They also call for a 600,000-square-foot hotel to replace the hotel and mall that were destroyed. While no plan includes buildings as tall as the 110-story twin towers, each evokes the lost towers with at least one needle-like structure perched atop a building. The tallest structure in any of the plans is 85 stories. Each plan also includes the word “memorial.” John Whitehead, the head of the agency charged with rebuilding the site, said the proposals are works in progress and are subject to change before the final choice is made in December. SOURCE: Associated Press