Features
New ground zero viewing wall to be etched with names of victims
NEW YORK — The names of the World Trade Center victims will be etched into portions of a viewing wall that will encircle ground zero during its redevelopment, officials said Tuesday.
The wall will be in place for the one-year anniversary of the disaster that claimed more than 2,800 lives, said Michael McKeon, a spokesman for Gov. George Pataki.
The 13-foot high wall of galvanized steel, proposed in April, will replace the makeshift barriers that have mostly blocked the site from view since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Designers have said it will contain a series of steel mesh panels for people to see through, replacing the existing wooden viewing platform. It will remain along most of the perimeter of the 16-acre site throughout redevelopment, which is expected to last several years.
The wall also is expected to include panels depicting what happened at the site and descriptions of the history of the site and the attacks.
Plans for the wall were confirmed with families at a meeting with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. on Monday to discuss a permanent memorial, which is still being planned. Pataki and New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey were scheduled to announce details of the plan Wednesday.
