Freedom Tower to Be Revised

The soaring skyscraper that is supposed to rise from the World Trade Center site is going back to the drawing board.

Gov. George E. Pataki said Wednesday that he and other officials involved with developing the site had agreed to revamp the design of the Freedom Tower to address security issues raised by the Police Department.

It is unclear how radical a redesign will be needed, but sources familiar with the discussions said the building would still stand at 1,776 feet, in homage to the year the United States declared its independence.

But Wednesday’s announcement is a new setback for a project that is meant to symbolize the city’s ability to overcome the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Nearly four years after the twin towers were toppled, officials have expressed concern that the project is losing momentum, and the president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. recently announced he was stepping down to take a job with an insurance firm.

Although Pataki took pains to separate the Freedom Tower’s problems from the other projects, the site is an intricate tangle of engineering challenges. Moving one element by even a few inches could affect everything else.

The future cultural center, for instance, would have to be built on a platform covering a subway tunnel, a concourse and utilities for the Freedom Tower and four other office buildings that may not be built for years. It seems likely that delays on the Freedom Tower will ripple throughout the site.

Developer Larry Silverstein, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials and Port Authority officials met with police Wednesday to discuss the redesign. An aide to Pataki said a new design would be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver criticized what he called “the lack of coordination and cooperation by the governor and mayor” that had caused “months of delay” before deciding the project needed to be redesigned.

“In fact,” Silver said, “the security concerns they cite are not new revelations, but rather concerns that have been expressed by the Police Department for quite some time.”

Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said Wednesday, “We completely agree with what the governor said.”

He said that “unprecedented security concerns” were forcing the change. He said that the Freedom Tower was one of many projects in downtown Manhattan, and most were proceeding as planned.

Silverstein said, “It is crystal clear that we all share the goal of delivering a spectacular and secure Freedom Tower as quickly as possible.”