“The millions of visitors that are going to visit the museum and memorial will be able to descend right next to these amazing stairs that served as a walkway to safety and salvation on that horrific day,” said Avi Schick, chairperson of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, in a statement.
The L.M.D.C. brokered a compromise between those who wanted to preserve only a small piece of the staircase and those who wanted it to stay in the same spot forever.
The staircase stood 22 feet tall and, after some whittling, weighed 65 tons. To prepare the delicate, crumbling structure for the move, workers spent three months reinforcing it with steel bracing. For additional protection, the stairs were covered with plywood and Styrofoam. The move clears the way for excavation and foundation work on Tower 2.
