Competition to design WTC memorial opens

NEW YORK -- A competition to design a memorial to those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing began Monday.

"Now is the time to unleash your creativity," said John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

The design competition is open to anyone over the age of 18 who pays a fee of $25. Applicants must register by May 29 and will have until June 30 to submit their designs.

A 13-member panel will choose approximately five finalists and select a winning design in the fall.

The panelists who attended Monday's news conference at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden included Vietnam Veterans' Memorial designer Maya Lin; Paula Grant Berry, whose husband, David, was killed at the trade center; and representatives of Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Asked what advice she would offer applicants, Lin said, "You enter a competition not necessarily to win but to say what you truly believe needs to be done there," she said.

Berry, the only victim's family member on the jury, said: "I am determined that a memorial will be built where we will be proud to bring our children."

The memorial is to be built on a 4.7-acre site encompassing the so-called "footprints" of the twin towers. It will be incorporated into an overall trade center rebuilding plan developed by Daniel Libeskind, the architect whose design was chosen in February.

The guidelines for the memorial will be published on a Web site that went online Monday.

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On the Net:

http://www.wtcsitememorial.org