World Trade Center Memorial To Be Redesigned

"When a jury chose a Sept. 11 memorial design from more than 5,000 entries, the panel praised it for the 'powerful, yet simple' use of reflecting pools to represent the destroyed World Trade Center. More than two years later, nothing is simple about the memorial, called 'Reflecting Absence,' which was sent back for a redesign after contractors concluded that it could cost nearly $1 billion.

A builder appointed by Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg is due to present new options Thursday that would cut the memorial's cost to $500 million. Officials hope to open the memorial in three years; preliminary construction that began in March has stopped.

'There's no reason that this memorial should be $1 billion. Absolutely none,' said Daniel Libeskind, the architect who created the master plan for the 16-acre site known as ground zero."