What's in store for ground zero?

Tearful workers Thursday removed the last girder from the 70-foot crater that had once been the site of the World Trade Center.

The wordless ceremony lasted only 20 minutes, but it was long on symbolism. It marked not only the official end of the recovery effort after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but also the beginning of the site's redevelopment in ways still to be decided.

No 100-story office towers are likely to grace the 16-acre parcel in lower Manhattan. Nor is it probable that the entire site will be set aside for a memorial to victims of the attacks.

So what is being planned? Here are details from recent news reports:

The site is owned by the governments of New York and New Jersey, through their proxy, the Port Authority. Public officials stress that any decisions about rebuilding will be made jointly by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Port Authority, and the offices of Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

John Whitehead, chairman of the development corporation, has said he thinks there is a consensus that it is not practical or appropriate to build another 100-story building.

Larry Silverstein holds a 99-year lease to the World Trade Center properties. He has had his architects draw up plans for the site that include four 50- to 55-story office buildings. Excavation has started for a new office building on the site of 7 World Trade Center.

A temporary station for a commuter railroad and the reconstruction of two subway lines has started. Officials are discussing a new transit hub and underground concourse connecting the commuter rail and subway lines. The concourse would include retail space.

Some family members of victims have pushed the idea that the entire 16-acre site should be devoted to a memorial. Most people involved in the rebuilding say that is not practical.

City officials have discussed reinstalling two streets, Greenwich and Fulton, through the super-block that was created for the trade center before construction began in 1966. The largest of the four quadrants, the southwest corner, created by this contains the footprints of the twin towers. That 7 acres could be used as a memorial and be separated from commercial space in the remaining quadrants.

Several government officials, including Bloomberg and Whitehead, have said commercial office space will almost certainly be rebuilt on at least some of the site.

Creation of commercial office buildings is one of the few ways that the Port Authority can satisfy conditions of its lease with Westfield America, operator of the World Trade Center shopping mall when the buildings were attacked. Westfield holds the rights to develop retail space both below and above ground on the site.

The design firm of Beyer Blinder Belle and Associates has been chosen to oversee the rebuilding. It has until sometime in July to come up with six options for the design of the site and the surrounding area. The firm will be expected to make recommendations about transportation, parks, waterfront access, new retail areas, and civic and cultural institutions. By the end of the year, redevelopment officials have said, a single plan will be completed.

The Port Authority plans to erect a chain-link fence around the site so that people can watch whatever development takes place in the coming years.

-- Times executive news editor Ron Brackett and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report, which includes information from the New York Times, www.skyscraper.org, the Chicago Tribune and Cox News Service.

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