Request for Culture at WTC Site
LMDC Invites Museum, Cultural Proposals
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The Associated Press
June 30, 2003, 2:06 PM EDT
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. invited arts groups around the world on Monday to submit proposals for a museum and a cultural center at the World Trade Center site.
"Cultural programs are an essential element to creating a thriving urban environment in lower Manhattan," Gov. George Pataki said in a statement. "I strongly encourage cultural institutions nationwide and abroad to participate in lower Manhattan's historic rebirth."
Organizations have until Sept. 15 to submit their ideas for a museum commemorating the terrorist attacks of Feb. 26, 1993 and Sept. 11, 2001, and for additional cultural facilities at the trade center site.
Architect Daniel Libeskind's overall plan for the site includes more than 400,000 square feet for cultural uses.
The City Opera had been viewed as a front-runner to anchor the arts center at ground zero, but neighborhood residents polled in May said they would prefer a multipurpose cultural complex such as the 92nd Street Y.
"Everything's a possibility, and certainly the City Opera is one organization that has expressed an interest, but again, we want this to be an open process for everyone to give us their ideas," said Kevin Rampe, president of the development corporation.
Arts groups wishing to participate will be asked to provide documentation of a proven track record and a description of previous experience with capital projects.
Rampe said the development corporation will decide later how much money it will dedicate to cultural facilities.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
The LMDC is really pissing me off. :angry: IMO The bureaucrats in that crap-hole are the single worst aspect of the rebuilding process, too politically correct and too out of touch for their own good and answering only to Pataki. They have no idea how Lower Manhattan works, functions, or operates. What are they proposing next on Ground Zero, an elementary school?
Request for Culture at WTC Site
How about a change of record?
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Agglomeration, check the statistics in the article on this thread:
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/to...&topic=373
and answer two questions:
1. Is Midtown a business district?
2. Does Midtown have cultural institutions?
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Seriously, I really think that opera houses and social services centers just don't belong on Ground Zero. I wouldn't mind them for the rest of Lower Manhattan or Midtown, but to put them on the 16 acres would clearly detract from the WTC's original purpose as a massive and symbolic business and retail epicenter. And while I'm not a fan of Silverstein or Libeskind, I absolutely hate the political meddling of the LMDC.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
The site plan already allots 400,000 sq ft to non-business use. What should we put there?
Lower Manhattan began to change long before 9/11. When the WTC was built, this was a 9-5 district. That is no longer the case. As stated in the other thread, this is the fastest
growing residential area in the city.
In my opinion, it's residents that bring long term stability to an area. Companies can move at the drop of a hat; people are more dug-in. Even misguided NIMBYs at least care about where they live.
If a company is considering moving to a community, what does it look for besides a building site? It checks housing, schools, recreational and cultural ammenites for its employees. Why should lower Manhattan be any different? It's value as a business district would be enhanced with a work-force that can commute by foot.
If you accept the population boom that began decades ago, how can you deny them cultural ammenities?
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Agglomeration, forgive me but this is nonsense. You sound like a NIMBY with a different agenda. Of course, an opera house!
Also a multiplex cinema, nightclubs, bowling and bunjee jumping. The city is not about what you leave out (that's the suburbs), but about what you put in. I didn't really need to remind you, did I?
Request for Culture at WTC Site
I have nothing against new residencies and such in Lower Manhattan as a whole. I really do think they're doing a good job creating new residencies and amenities in Battery Park City and the South Street Seaport area, for example. I'm confident that Downtown will accomodate all the new residents while keeping its status as a major financial hub. I just don't want affordable housing or opera houses right on the 16 acres at the WTC site. And yes, I still hate the LMDC's guts.
(Edited by Agglomeration at 11:28 am on July 2, 2003)
Request for Culture at WTC Site
There won't be the slightest lack of commercial space compared to pre-9/11 so this is a non-issue. Single-use urban complexes of such scale are obsolete.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Cultural institutions are essential to the development and growth of any area, especially the "new" downtown. *DT residency is going to increase by more than double what is there now, and this is a lot more than what was there, say, 5 - 10 yrs ago. *It's just the evolution of the area. *All these people would want the 24/7 (cliche, but true) vibe that the rest of NYC provides. *Schools, restaurants, bars, museums, etc. will be HUGE in attracting business and residents alike. *Sure, they need to build up the transportation, but that's planned, too. *This is the best thing for downtown and I hope they get it right.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
July 27, 2003
Art Groups Want in on Ground Zero Center
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:23 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- More than 75 cultural institutions, ranging from established city museums to newcomers like the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, want to be part of the arts center being planned for the new World Trade Center site.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is not asking for formal proposals yet, but it invited responses from groups around the world to see what types of institutions are interested, said LMDC spokeswoman Joanna Rose.
"We're really looking for a broad mix of cultural institutions,'' Rose said.
Several well-known cultural groups in the city have expressed interest, including the New-York Historical Society, founded in 1804 when the name of the city was sometimes hyphenated.
The historical society began collecting artifacts from the World Trade Center just days after the Sept. 11 attack, said spokesman Travis Stewart. Six weeks later, it opened one of the first exhibits dedicated to the people who died there and the rescue workers.
"From the beginning, we expressed a desire to be part of the cultural component there,'' Stewart said.
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, which just opened in April, also seeks to participate in the rebirth of downtown, said its president and chairman Lawrence Klein.
"Being there is to be part of the city, to be part of rebuilding an area that was devastated,'' Klein said.
^------
On the Net:
New-York Historical Society: http://www.nyhistory.org/
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art: http://www.moccany.org/
LMDC: http://www.renewnyc.com/
Last edited by Kris; October 4th, 2009 at 05:31 PM.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Well, it would be great to have a lot of diverse groups there - dance, theater, museums, new, old, etc. *I hope that's what happens. *Some start-ups would be great, too. Add to the city overall, not just shift from one venue to another.
Request for Culture at WTC Site
July 31, 2003
Cut in Space at Ground Zero May Bar Home for City Opera
By ROBIN POGREBIN
The floor space available for a performing arts center for ground zero has been reduced by about 20 percent, say officials involved in drawing up the plans, making it harder to build an opera house there.
It was this reduction of the available floor space, or footprint, to between 35,000 and 37,000 square feet from some 45,000 square feet in the original Daniel Libeskind plan that led the corporation in charge of the rebuilding effort last week to say there is no room for an opera house at the World Trade Center site.
Officials of the New York City Opera, which wants to leave Lincoln Center for downtown, were troubled by the comments; the opera has been talked about as the lead contender for the site's cultural anchor.
In public, however, development officials are now hedging their bets, saying that no option is foreclosed for the two cultural buildings on the site, a performing arts center and a museum.
This uncertainty arises in part because the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation overseeing the rebuilding of ground zero has just invited cultural institutions to submit proposals for the site. On Monday night at an informational forum for cultural institutions the corporation said the dimensions of the cultural buildings would be determined by the groups selected to occupy them.
But given the reduction in the space available and the footprint that City Opera says it needs, it would seem that a significant change in plans would be needed to accommodate an opera house. The opera has proposed a new house with a 60,000-square-foot footprint, Paul Kellogg, general and artistic director of the opera, said in an interview yesterday — so 40,000 square feet would appear to be severely inadequate.
The opera now has 53,000 square feet at the New York State Theater, which it shares with the New York City Ballet. When the State Theater was built in 1964, its backstage space was curtailed at the last minute because of budget cuts. Because of these cramped quarters, as well as acoustics that were designed for dance and to muffle sound, City Opera craves its own home.
Mr. Kellogg said the opera would be open to making some space adjustments, as the developers could be. "I'm sure there is flexibility within the site," he said. "They have the dimensions that we need. This whole process has to play out."
In addition to 2,200 seats and ample backstage space, the opera needs space for sets, costumes, dressing rooms, rehearsals and offices. The development corporation's invitation to cultural groups describes the performing arts center as several stories high, amounting to an overall square footage of 150,000 to 250,000 square feet.
John C. Whitehead, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, who has championed City Opera's downtown interests since earlier this year, made a point of saying in interviews this week that the opera was still welcome in Lower Manhattan — if not on the site then somewhere nearby. City Opera is also considering a site in Battery Park City, though it prefers to be at ground zero.
"The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation wants the City Opera to be able to find a home in Lower Manhattan, and City Opera very much wants to find a home in Lower Manhattan," Mr. Whitehead said. "They would prefer to be in the 16-acre site, but if they can't be fit into the 16 acres, they are willing to look at alternatives."
Mr. Whitehead disputed the assertion by his chief operating officer, Matthew Higgins, that the recent space determination had made the possibility of an opera house unlikely, suggesting some internal dissent or miscommunication within the development corporation.
There have been doubts that an opera house can generate the kind of 24-hour activity that planners want for the site, meant to attract both local residents and tourists.
Mr. Kellogg said City Opera's programming and schedule at ground zero would be very different from its current practices, with more matinees and musical theater. City Opera's mission is to offer affordable tickets, he added.
Mr. Kellogg and Irwin Schneiderman, chairman of the opera, have said they are optimistic about being able to come to the project with ample financial support.
The development corporation is expected to provide $200 million to $300 million to cultural organizations selected for the site. Mr. Whitehead said some of this money could also be used to help cultural groups elsewhere downtown.
"The money will be spread thinly over many organizations," Mr. Whitehead said.
At the forum for cultural groups, Richard J. Schwartz, the chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, emphasized economic viability, saying, "Most of the funding will have to be self-generated."
Mr. Schneiderman said the opera was proceeding with its application, due by Sept. 15. "If there is a will to get it done, it can be done," he said.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
Request for Culture at WTC Site
150-250K sq.ft. *How big are other centers? *Lincoln Center? *The Kimmel in Philly? etc
Request for Culture at WTC Site
Lincoln Center campus is 16 acres.
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