Two familiar Downtown faces, Frank Sciame and Kevin Rampe, were tapped Wednesday to help the World Trade Center rebuilding and memorial efforts.
Sciame, the Seaport developer and construction manager, will be in charge of getting a handle on the skyrocketing costs of the memorial, at the request of Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg, who have set a $500 million cost limit. Sciame is donating his time and will have until the end of June to get architects and officials with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the WTC Memorial Foundation and the Port Authority to agree on a design and on cost estimates. The foundation estimates the current design will cost $972 million to build.
Officials did clear one hurdle Tuesday when a judge dismissed a lawsuit intended to stop memorial construction. A state judge ruled that the L.M.D.C. followed historic preservation law and that preservation and family groups did not come close to meeting the deadline by which they could file objections to the plan to build on part of the Twin Towers’ footprints.
Sciame also served as a pro-bono advisor to the W.T.C. Tribute Center on Liberty St. and provided cost and construction consultation for the New Jersey September 11th memorial. He recently restored 14 derelict properties in the Seaport. Sciame is working with W.T.C. train station architect Santiago Calatrava on an unusually-shaped tower design for the Seaport and has a reputation for being sympathetic to architects. He also has developed a good relationship with Community Board 1.
Rampe, who was the L.M.D.C.’s second president, will return to the agency as chairperson, replacing John Whitehead, who announced his resignation last week. Rampe, appointed to his new post by Pataki, and Whitehead are also on the Memorial Foundation’s board. Rampe left the L.M.D.C. last year, and since that time, whether coincidental or not, rebuilding progress has been rocky.
Pataki and Bloomberg released statements praising both appointments. Bloomberg said Rampe “demonstrated a unique ability to build consensus among the various stakeholders and to get things done.”
While Rampe was president, the L.M.D.C. set up the memorial selection process, helped negotiate the deal to purchase the damaged Deutsche Bank building across the street from the L.M.D.C. and decided how it would spend it’s last $800 million of federal rebuilding money. The current president, Stefan Pryor, used to report to Rampe before being promoted, and now Pryor will report to Rampe as chairperson.
— Josh Rogers
WWW Downtown Express
