The Freedom Tower

A sense of what the future promises when the new WTC Freedom Tower is built comes shining through in comments that come from Charles Wolfe, the husband of a woman who died on 9/11.

Wolfe was an opponent of a plan to move the names of the victims from an underground location to a street-level location on walls surrounding two waterfalls that lead down to the empty footprints of the Twin Towers. In a redesign, the developer moved the names to the street-level location.

Wolfe said he reconsidered because earlier he did not realize the sound of the waterfalls flowing beneath the names will drown out the noise of the city. Wolfe said he changed his mind after he imagined what it will be like to see his wife’s name with the other names while hearing the roar of falling water. It will be powerful, he told a reporter for the Reuters News Service. “I’m getting choked up thinking about it.”

Officials hope to begin memorial construction in July and finish by September 11, 2009, the eighth anniversary of the attack, according to Downtown Express. “Anthony Gardner, whose brother was killed in the attack and is the leader of the Coalition of 9/11 Families, said changes in the design “improved a troubled design. “We think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “We’re maybe halfway there.”

Gardner told the Express he “wants to have more of the bedrock area accessible to the public and to let family members decide which tower site to have their loved one’s names listed and to allow the names to be grouped together by firm, firehouse, precinct and flight.

Visitors to the plaza will be able to walk directly to the names and waterfalls without passing through security. The security check will be in the visitors center, which will lead to the underground sections. Those wishing to see the underground memorial area at bedrock will have to pay a museum admission fee if there is one.