9/11 memorial's price frays nerves

By KEITH EDDINGS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 15, 2005)

WHITE PLAINS — The architect who designed Westchester's memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks clashed with county legislators yesterday over the project's huge cost overruns. The 30-minute exchange ended when the architect dismissed the legislators' questions as insulting, then apologized and abruptly left the meeting.

The meeting began amicably when several legislators assured architect Frederick Schwartz that their commitment to the memorial had not wavered since County Executive Andrew Spano disclosed two weeks ago that the memorial would not stand as designed and asked for an additional $700,000 so that it could be built with stainless steel rods rather than cable. The legislators have already approved Spano's first request for $200,000.

But the questions quickly grew hostile, beginning when Legislator Vito Pinto, D-Eastchester, played on the words "steal" and "steel" to describe the overruns and the material Schwartz now says will be needed to build the memorial.

Legislator Ursula LaMotte, R-Bedford, asked Spano adviser Susan Tolchin, who made a rare visit to the legislature to escort Schwartz to the meeting, why Spano sent the Board of Legislators the initial $200,000 bill for the memorial before the engineering studies that exposed the flawed design were done. Tolchin responded that Spano relied on Schwartz's assurances.

Legislator Martin Rogowsky, D-Harrison, suggested redesigning the memorial to reduce the overrun and delaying the dedication to allow time to raise private funding. The memorial is expected to open Sept. 11 on Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla.

"With all due respect — I know you're world-renowned — but if someone comes to me and asks for something for $200,000, and it comes in at $900,000, maybe you change the design," Rogowsky told Schwartz, who helped lead a team of architects that was a runner-up in the redesign competition for the World Trade Center site. "The design came in a lot — not a little — a lot more (than budgeted). ... My constituents have not said to me, 'You have a blank check. Do whatever you want.' "