25 Feet Above Street Level, World Trade Center’s Liberty Park Opens Today
The World Trade Center‘s Liberty Park, the new one-acre public park at 25 feet above ground level spanning Liberty Street between West and Greenwich Streets, opens today. NYYimby reports that the park is getting the last few finishing touches in preparation for its grand opening dedication ceremony. As part of the landscape design by Joseph E. Brown of architectural and engineering firm Aecom, a 300-foot-long “living wall” composed of 826 panels of varying plant types is a highlight of the new park, which also functions as a pleasant disguise for the entrance to the WTC’s security hub that sits beneath.
Other cool things you’ll find in the new public park include a sapling propagated from the horse chestnut tree that Anne Frank could see outside her window in Amsterdam, a panoramic view of the National September 11 Memorial, and a Santiago Calatrava-designed Greek Orthodox shrine (the last is sited at the park’s eastern segment which will open in 2017). Tiered teak benches make a great spot for people-watching; the park can also be reached via gently inclined ramps.
The park, which cost $50 million to build, will be open to the public from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily after today. The New York Times has more pictures of the park’s landscape components being assembled ahead of its introduction to the city.
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Images via Facebook @wtcprogress.
