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Agency releases new images of WTC site

By Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency leading the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, released new images Friday depicting what the site would look like when completed.

Unlike previous renderings, the latest illustration includes not only the iconic, 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower but four other towers planned for the 16-acre site.

The site's master planner, architect Daniel Libeskind, prescribed the towers ring the site in a semicircle of descending heights heading south.

The images also feature the two sunken pools of a future 9/11 memorial, a new 7 World Trade Center, low-lying cultural buildings and the winged roof of a planned PATH station that along with the Fulton Street Transit Center would be the main gateways into Ground Zero.

Since a granite cornerstone was laid for the Freedom Tower on July 4, workers have been reinforcing the northwest wall and installing footings to support the new tower.

The tower is expected to open in 2009 and the site, already a popular tourist destination, is expected to draw about 10 million visitors each year.