Quote:
Originally Posted by fimiak
Officially, the white spire facade was removed because of the inability to routinely clean/maintain it, so instead of engineering an expensive solution, they scrapped the facade.
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Not quite, but close enough.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...619775032.html
Quote:
The owners, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and developer Douglas Durst, are intending to drop a plan to enclose the 408-foot antenna with an ornamental white shell.
They say it would be too expensive and treacherous to maintain. Removing the shell would save about $20 million, Mr. Durst said.
"Eliminating this integral part of the building's design and leaving an exposed antenna and equipment is unfortunate," David Childs, the building's lead designer, said in a statement.
Mr. Durst, chairman of Durst Organization Inc., said in an interview that it would have been almost impossible to carry out repairs on the exterior of the shell, as maintenance workers
wouldn't be able to safely access it. "They should have done a better job designing it," Mr. Durst said of the shell. Removing it, he said, "is not the end of the world."
Mr. Childs in his statement denied this, saying Skidmore Owings & Merrill devised a workable maintenance plan with engineering consultants hired for the purpose.
The Durst Organization, which agreed to buy a $100 million stake in the tower in 2010, wanted to remove the shell to save costs soon after it came into the project.
But that attempt was rejected by the Port Authority's previous executive director, according to people familiar with the matter.
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It was simply about the money, and Durst got a more agreeable partner in a new Port Authority director. It's really that simple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpdrummer82
That's not true, many sources have said that the tower will be lit up schematically on various holidays including(but not limited to) The fourth of July,
Christmas/Hannukah, St. Patrick's Day, etc.
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The building itself won't be lit up, but above it the mast will have the rotating light from the beacon, and the mast will be capable of light shows,
similar to what we now have with the Empire State and now the Parachute Drop at Coney Island. It could look something like this...
• Video Link
Tai'sTees
![](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3815/9145129015_29e57b39ac.jpg)
Freedom T
rakeshmalhotra98
BJL //