The Freedom Tower

A report commissioned altering current plans for the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum by New York Gov. George Pataki and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg hit the streets yesterday.

Completed by builder Frank Sciame, head of the Sciame Construction Company and Sciame Development, the report spells out ways to reign in costs to build the project in line with the $500 million budget.

“Frank Sciame has conducted a thoughtful and thorough process that brings the Reflecting Absence vision in line with the $500 million budget and will ensure that the memorial to our nearly 3,000 lost heroes remains on schedule,” the governor said. The mayor concurred.

While the costs estimates in Sciame’s report halved the nearly $1 billion price tag for the project, another significant factor in Sciame’s version of the project soothed rancor among family members of victims over a central issue — placement of all 2,979 names to be displayed around two pools. In earlier designs, the names were below grade and this upset a number of family groups.

Sciame’s cost saving suggestions will also quiet critics who say original plans were way out of line. Capital and operating cost savings include approximately $285.1 million in construction and infrastructure savings. The plan eliminates the entry pavilion, portions of the below-grade galleries, the cost of relocating the river water line; modifying a bedrock museum;  refining the approach to preserving a wall, a significant reduction in administration costs.

The WTC Memorial and Museum is slated to open on September 11, 2009.