Final Piece of Spire for One World Trade Center Hoisted Thursday
On a crystal clear Thursday in New York, eerily similar to that day exactly 4,248 days after the Twin Towers fell, the last spire draped in the American flag was hoisted to the top of One World Trade center, completing a structure that arose from the ashes and memories of those lost.
The building, which has also been called the Freedom Tower, will stand at 1,776 feet (541 meters) when it is completed, symbolizing American strength in the face of adversary as well as dominating a lower Manhattan skyline that has been bare since that fateful day.
The tower will eclipse the Empire State Building. Currently standing at 1,250 feet, it cost just under $4 billion to construct, but the true value of what it means not only to New Yorkers, but to the rest of the nation, can never be measured.
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One World Trade, which is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex, is being constructed on the same site where the original World Trade Center towers (the Twin Towers) once stood.
The Twin Towers were completely destroyed during the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, which left at least 3,000 people dead. A memorial was recently completed that includes two reflecting pools following the fallen towers footprints and etched in stone surrounding the reflecting pools are the names of those lost on that day.
The 104-story skyscraper is specifically being built in the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site where the original 8-story 6 World Trade Center previously stood.
One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and will remain surpassed by the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which stands at 2,716 feet.
Among the world's tallest buildings that will eventually be surpassed by One World Trade Center is the Taipei 101 located in Taipei, Taiwan standing at 1,670 feet, and the Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai, China which stands at 1,614 feet.
