May 04, 2006
Mayor calls for $500 mln Trade Center Memorial cap
Although the estimated cost to build the World Trade Center Memorial is expected to climb toward $800 million, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today said the expense should be capped at $500 million.
Answering questions after presenting his 2007 city budget, Bloomberg said it would be up to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to decide if the budget cap would require yet another project redesign. From Bloomberg's remarks: I think all of the projections that are coming back on the cost of the memorial are much higher than anyone had anticipated. This is a project that I think everyone feels has to go forward. We want to remember. We want to tell a story. We want people to come to this city and to be reminded of what democracy is all about and how lucky we all are. And at the same time we just have to realize that given all the needs of society, schools, and police officers on the beat, and parks, and providing services and all of the things that we want to have for our children, there’s just not an unlimited amount of money that we can spend on the memorial. I did have a meeting with (New York) Governor Pataki yesterday, he and I, and then I talked to (New Jersey) Governor Corzine this morning, and I think all three of us are in agreement that we should have a cap of $500 million on the total cost of the memorial. That anything more would be, I guess the word might be ‘inappropriate.’ ... This is the amount. Let’s get on with it. ...
We also have to address who is going to pay ongoing maintenance and operating costs for the memorial. And there are estimates of $50 to $60 million a year. Nobody has that kind of money, and so that’s another thing they’re going to have to address. In reponse to another question on the same topic, Bloomberg compared the costs to other major memorials, such as the World War II memorial that cost about $170 million, the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, which was about $22 million and the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., which cost about $14 million overall, Bloomberg said. The annual operating cost for each is in the $1 million to $2 million range, he said.
Update: Not only did the estimate climb to $800 million, it climbed closer to $1 billion on the same Bloomberg made his speech, the New York Times reports.
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May 4, 2006 01:40 PM in Downtown
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