Ground Zero Ideas Get Short Shrift in New York

New Yorkers urged local planners at the weekend not to reconstruct buildings on the footprints of the collapsed twin towers, which many regard as hallowed ground after thousands lost their lives.

More than 4,000 people attended a "listening to the city" forum on Saturday to register their dislike of six proposals to develop the World Trade Centre site, which was destroyed on September 11. The meeting marked the start of a consultation process to find a suitable plan for the area at the lower tip of Manhattan by the end of the year.

Four of the six proposals, aimed at creating a permanent memorial yet incorporating 11m sq ft of office space, were described as "poor" by the delegates, while two received only mild approval.

The Port Authority, which owns the site, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation published the six proposals last week but have run into criticism for not being ambitious enough and including too much office space.

Finding a solution acceptable to all is likely to prove tricky. Even though delegates at this weekend's event made it clear they wanted the footprints of the towers to be preserved, one of the plans that avoids building directly on the foundations was rejected. The "memorial square" idea, which includes a 10-acre open square and four office towers, was dismissed by delegates as "feeling like an open casket".

All the proposals being considered, each of which have "memorial" in their title, were required to include public space, a hotel, retail space and the rebuilding of the St Nicholas Greek Orthodox church. Ideas included a plaza, square, triangle, garden, park and promenade.

Early responses from New Yorkers showed they feared the site would be over-developed and include too much commercial space.

They also feared their responses would not be heard by planners, who insisted this weekend that they would look at including more uses for the site.