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CNN Live At Daybreak
Picking a Winning Design Won't be Easy
Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In New York City, ground zero looks very different than it did a year ago. There are now plans to rebuild the broken sky line and, most importantly, by the end of the year a design is expected to be chosen for a memorial to those killed in the attacks.
As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, picking a winning design won't be easy, though.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ground zero is now a busy construction site. What's coming? The world's tallest building. But what about the centerpiece of the new site, the memorial? It will go on this four and a half acre section of the site, but deciding what it will look like...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Keep them together! Keep them together!
CARROLL: ... has proven to be a sensitive subject.
PATRICK MCCARROLL, NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER: We're not saying that our guys were more valuable than the civilians who were lost that day, but what they did that day was different.
CARROLL: Emergency workers want the names of rescuers killed listed with their affiliation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it wasn't for them, you'd need twice as much space for a memorial, because there'd be twice as many victims.
CARROLL: But other 9/11 families say the memorial shouldn't distinguish victims by their jobs. Tom Johnson's son Scott, a securities analyst, was killed in the Trade Center.
TOM JOHNSON: Any attempt to establish a hierarchy of loss is to deny the absolute measure of this tragedy visited so cruelly on every one of them.
CARROLL: Ultimately, these are the people who will choose the winning memorial design, a diverse jury of 13 picked by the agency overseeing the rebuilding.
Paula Grant-Berry is the only 9/11 family member.
PAULA GRANT-BERRY: I am determined that a memorial be built where we will be proud to bring our children.
CARROLL: Berry was part of a New York delegation that visited the other ground zeros of September 11. They studied the terrorism memorial in Oklahoma City and the monuments in the nation's capital, including the Vietnam War Memorial, whose powerful listing of names reinvented the idea of what a memorial could look like. Its designer, Maya Lin, is now a juror for the World Trade Center memorial.
MAYA LIN, WTC MEMORIAL JUROR: We're seeking an incredibly moving piece of art, architecture, it could be a combination.
CARROLL: The jury received more than 5,000 entries, making it the largest design competition in history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objects just floating out there.
CARROLL: CNN was granted a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the jurors at work on conditions our cameras would not show the entries. Each one displayed on 40 inch poster boards. To make the competition fair, all are anonymous, identifiable only by numbers. The victims' names need not be listed, so long as all 2,800 are somehow represented and the design leaves space for remains never identified.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The memorial should be powerful, beautiful and moving.
CARROLL: The jury has listened to opinions at public forums and at private meetings with the mayor and governor.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: The jury can pick a memorial that reflects back and appreciates the sense of loss that we all still feel and will feel for our entire lives.
CARROLL: Despite the signs of discontent, the jurors feel their mission is clear.
GRANT-BERRY: Magnificent people died and we must be magnificent in how we honor them. We must be humble, even noble. We must try to make them proud.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And a reminder, tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, hear from the architect chosen to build the new tower at ground zero. Daniel Libeskind will be a guest on "Anderson Cooper 360."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 11, 2003 - 06:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In New York City, ground zero looks very different than it did a year ago. There are now plans to rebuild the broken sky line and, most importantly, by the end of the year a design is expected to be chosen for a memorial to those killed in the attacks.
As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, picking a winning design won't be easy, though.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ground zero is now a busy construction site. What's coming? The world's tallest building. But what about the centerpiece of the new site, the memorial? It will go on this four and a half acre section of the site, but deciding what it will look like...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Keep them together! Keep them together!
CARROLL: ... has proven to be a sensitive subject.
PATRICK MCCARROLL, NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER: We're not saying that our guys were more valuable than the civilians who were lost that day, but what they did that day was different.
CARROLL: Emergency workers want the names of rescuers killed listed with their affiliation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it wasn't for them, you'd need twice as much space for a memorial, because there'd be twice as many victims.
CARROLL: But other 9/11 families say the memorial shouldn't distinguish victims by their jobs. Tom Johnson's son Scott, a securities analyst, was killed in the Trade Center.
TOM JOHNSON: Any attempt to establish a hierarchy of loss is to deny the absolute measure of this tragedy visited so cruelly on every one of them.
CARROLL: Ultimately, these are the people who will choose the winning memorial design, a diverse jury of 13 picked by the agency overseeing the rebuilding.
Paula Grant-Berry is the only 9/11 family member.
PAULA GRANT-BERRY: I am determined that a memorial be built where we will be proud to bring our children.
CARROLL: Berry was part of a New York delegation that visited the other ground zeros of September 11. They studied the terrorism memorial in Oklahoma City and the monuments in the nation's capital, including the Vietnam War Memorial, whose powerful listing of names reinvented the idea of what a memorial could look like. Its designer, Maya Lin, is now a juror for the World Trade Center memorial.
MAYA LIN, WTC MEMORIAL JUROR: We're seeking an incredibly moving piece of art, architecture, it could be a combination.
CARROLL: The jury received more than 5,000 entries, making it the largest design competition in history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objects just floating out there.
CARROLL: CNN was granted a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the jurors at work on conditions our cameras would not show the entries. Each one displayed on 40 inch poster boards. To make the competition fair, all are anonymous, identifiable only by numbers. The victims' names need not be listed, so long as all 2,800 are somehow represented and the design leaves space for remains never identified.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The memorial should be powerful, beautiful and moving.
CARROLL: The jury has listened to opinions at public forums and at private meetings with the mayor and governor.
GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: The jury can pick a memorial that reflects back and appreciates the sense of loss that we all still feel and will feel for our entire lives.
CARROLL: Despite the signs of discontent, the jurors feel their mission is clear.
GRANT-BERRY: Magnificent people died and we must be magnificent in how we honor them. We must be humble, even noble. We must try to make them proud.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And a reminder, tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, hear from the architect chosen to build the new tower at ground zero. Daniel Libeskind will be a guest on "Anderson Cooper 360."
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
