National theater at ground zero?

Proposals for the area designated as a performing-arts space at the World Trade Center site in New York City are rolling in. Most recently, a group of actors and theater professionals proposed a $170-million national theater. Among the plan’s backers are director Harold Prince, playwright Arthur Miller and actress Meryl Streep, said Sean Cullen, an actor who conceived of the plan for the American National Theatre.

“The idea is to identify and produce the 15 most excellent and distinguished new American works, plays and/or musicals,” Cullen said by phone from New York.

Daniel Libeskind’s master plan for ground zero includes a site designated for a performing-arts center. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., created to help plan and coordinate the rebuilding, is accepting proposals, but no decision is expected until next year. The New York City Opera and the 92nd Street Y are among the institutions that have expressed interest.