The Star Ledger
High bids halt Liberty State Park 9/11 memorial
Estimates $12M over budget force state to rethink disputed design
Thursday, October 11, 2007
BY RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff
Plans to build a 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City have been
put on hold after construction bids came in $12 million higher than the state
budgeted, officials said.
Known as "Empty Sky," the award-winning design has angered some park
advocates who say the sheer size of the memorial -- which will honor the nearly
700 New Jerseyans killed on 9/11 -- threatens to block not only the park's
majestic harbor views but also the view of Ground Zero.
But cheaper doesn't necessarily mean smaller, state officials say. They said
they will try to streamline costs and reduce the amount of steel needed to
complete the project without significantly changing its concept.
"We are in the process of working with the architect to see what
efficiencies can be found within the existing design and work with him to better
line the cost with available funds," said Tom Vincz, a spokesman for the
state Treasury Department.
Bids on the project ranged from $22 million to $25 million, while $10.1 million
has been set aside for construction, Vincz said. He said state officials will
ask the architect to revise plans and ask contractors to resubmit bids based on
those revisions.
Vincz said the memorial's intricate design and the volatile cost of steel likely
contributed to the high estimates. But he declined to say whether the state
would ask the architect to reduce the size of the memorial.
"We'll put it in the architect's hands to find the efficiencies,"
Vincz said. "I'm not going to prejudge what he will propose by way of
changes. He will be working within the existing design concept."
Assemblyman Lou Manzo (D-Hudson), who opposes the current plan, said the state
would have to dip into discretionary funds to pay for it. That's money that
could be used for children's healthcare and other causes, he said.
In the meantime, construction on the memorial, which was slated to begin this
fall and last 14 months, has been put on hold, Vincz said.
"Empty Sky" is a modernistic memorial design from New York architect
Frederic Schwartz that will honor the nearly 700 New Jerseyans killed in the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It consists of two parallel stainless steel
walls -- symbolizing the fallen Twin Towers -- each 200 feet long and rising 30
feet high.
The memorial is to be built on a 10-foot-high mound near the Central Railroad of
New Jersey Train Terminal and ferries to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
It's not the idea of the memorial but its size and location that has stoked a
controversy.
Members of one citizens group have complained the large memorial will block
views of the very location it is meant to honor.
"It's the sacred and panoramic view toward Ground Zero and Manhattan that
it totally blocks," said Sam Pesin, president of the 900-member Friends of
Liberty State Park.
Pesin, the son of the late Morris Pesin, whose 18-year lobbying effort led to
the establishment of Liberty State Park, said the memorial, as currently
designed, also eliminates much of the park's only public plaza.
Friends of Liberty State Park sued the state last March in an effort to stop
construction of the memorial. Group members said the state Department of
Environmental Protection authorized a permit that neither fit the waterfront
project nor required a public meeting or public comment.
The group also hopes the high construction bids and the halt in construction
give the governor and Legislature a chance to re-evaluate the project.
"If they do go back to the drawing board and change the memorial in any
significant way, they're going to need a new permit," said Cynthia
Hadjiyannis, an attorney for the group. "At that point we will ask them to
adhere to the process."
DEP officials have said there were ample opportunities for public comment
(that's totally false as our Open Public Records Act Request clearly shows there
was no DEP public hearing/public comment period at all before or after the
victims' family committee chose their favorite out of the 6 designs - that the
jury gave them out of 320) and that it found no flaw in the permit process.
Darlene Yuhas, a DEP spokeswoman, would not speculate yesterday on whether a new
permit would be needed, adding only that the memorial project is moving forward.
The Jersey Journal contributed to this report. Russell Ben Ali may be reached
at rbenali@starledger.com or (201) 646-3421.
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