Workers to start on Ground Zero memorial

Last updated at 08:53 13 March 2006


Work is due to start in New York on a controversial World Trade Centre memorial honouring those killed in the September 11 attacks.

At 8am, 10 construction workers were moving in to begin clearing the site for the "Reflecting Absence" project at Ground Zero.

They will also check the footprints of the twin towers for damage and put protective coverings over parts of the original foundations before concrete is poured into them in six to eight weeks' time.

But relatives of victims of the attacks, together with preservationists, are still fighting to get the process halted at the eleventh hour and will take their battle to court today.

They say the design for the underground memorial and museum is unsafe and disregards the wishes of families and rescue workers.

The plan is for two "reflecting pools" at street level near the footprints of the towers, surrounded by a glade of trees.

They will be linked to underground pools, which will be surrounded by the names of nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre.

A lawsuit filed by the Coalition of 9/11 Families on Friday said pouring concrete over the footprint of the north tower, where the remains of hundreds of victims were left, would stop relatives being able to visit the site where their loved ones died.

The petition filed in Manhattan's State Supreme Court said: "The footprints of the World Trade Centre are the final resting place for over 30 per cent of the individuals who were murdered on September 11 2001 and whose remains were never found.

"As such, it is considered sacred ground by the petitioners."

If the current plans are not blocked, it added, "the ability to visit and contemplate the authentic site where their family members' last remains reside will be forever lost".

Rosaleen Tallon, whose firefighter brother Sean was among the dead, is demonstrating by sleeping outside his fire station across the road from the site.

She has been there since last Wednesday and said the construction work would not stop her protest.

"There is always opportunity until concrete is poured," Ms Tallon said.

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the project will not be held for another few weeks.

Stefan Pryor, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the planners wanted to stay on schedule and begin the preparatory work.

Michael Arad's design, which was chosen two years ago from more than 5,200 competition entries, would "fulfil the highest standards of both safety and beauty", he said.

The cost of the memorial and museum is currently budgeted to be around 500 million dollars (£289 million), although the figure could change.

It is scheduled to open by September 11 2009.

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