Freedom Tower groundbreaking set for July 4th

Developers of the Freedom Tower will break ground on the 1,776-foot skyscraper at the World Trade Center site on July 4, Gov. George Pataki said Wednesday.

Pataki, speaking at a business luncheon near ground zero in lower Manhattan, announced the start date of the construction on what is promised to be the world's tallest building.

"On July 4, as we commemorate the founding of our nation, we lay the foundation for our resurgence," Pataki said. "On July 4, as fireworks burst in the sky, ephemeral reminders of our liberty, we will begin to reclaim our skyline with a permanent symbol of our freedom." The July 4 date is well ahead of Pataki's stated goal of breaking ground by late summer.

"America and the world will witness as our plans go from paper to steel," he said.

The Freedom Tower will be built on the northwest part of the trade center site, not on the footprints of the vanished twin towers.

The plan calls for a cable suspension structure that creates an open area above the building's 70 floors of office space, and houses windmills to generate energy.



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