The Freedom Tower

Recommendations in the Sciame report saw the trees in a forest of complaints, revisions and options.

Sciame’s report outlined ways to reduce the hefty $1 billion price tag of the memorial and museum by at least 50%.

“We considered a wide range of options and analyzed each element of the designs individually, and then created several options that combined multiple design refinements,” Sciame said.

“Some options we analyzed were not considered consistent with the Reflecting Absence vision selected by the Memorial Jury, such as bringing the reflecting pools up to plaza level (making them shallow versions of the original.) These kinds of revisions were deemed too severe a departure from inspiring elements of the original design.”

“We also considered eliminating the waterfalls, however many of those consulted felt that the waterfalls were an important aspect of the Reflecting Absence design. In addition, the sound of the falling water was viewed as a necessary feature adding to the contemplative nature of the memorial, removing visitors from the sounds of the city as they viewed the voids that are the empty footprints of the Twin Towers. Removing the waterfalls and retaining the galleries did not yield sufficient operational or capital cost savings, given these concerns, to merit adoption.

“Options to reduce landscaping on the Memorial Plaza were also deemed inconsistent with the vision selected by the Memorial Jury, which noted in its statement the importance of the grove of trees surrounding the footprints as ‘traditional affirmations of life and rebirth.’“