On sacred ground?

Two years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the space where the twin towers stood is still empty. But if all goes according to plan, the buildings' "footprints" will soon be filled by entirely new structures that will rise into the sky in their place. \nPlans for the space were selected through an intensely competitive process run by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, a group created by New York Gov. George Pataki to manage the reconstruction. The winner was architect Daniel Libeskind. \nLibeskind's plans call for several buildings of varying height, including one with a 1776-ft. tall spire. Libeskind wrote on the LMDC's Web site that the spire will be home to a garden called "Gardens of the World," because "gardens are a constant affirmation of life."\nLibeskind said he knew from the beginning that designing a new World Trade Center would be a difficult task. \n"To acknowledge the terrible deaths which occurred on this site, while looking to the future with hope, seemed like two moments which could not be joined," he said.\nAfter visiting the site, Libeskind said he envisioned a place with the "bathtub" foundation walls left intact, and a memorial space in the middle remaining as a "quiet, meditative and spiritual space."\nThe LMDC is also hosting a competition to choose someone to design the memorial. \nBut some of the families of the victims are adamant that building on the site would dishonor the memory of those who perished there.\n"An irreplaceable part of our American heritage is being systematically destroyed," protester Beverly Eckert, who lost her husband in the attacks, told The Associated Press.\nEckert said she feared victims' children would visit the reconstructed site, "only to find (the victims') sacrifice is marked by a shopping mall and a subway stop."\nFriday, Eckert, along with 14 other people, protested the reconstruction plans. The protesters carried signs with messages such as "3,000 people consecrated this ground with their blood," and accused Gov. Pataki of retracting his promise to protect the "footprints" from development. \nThe protesters said they also have a protest planned for today. \nMichael McGerr, associate professor of history at IU, said that New York's history of preserving public space may influence the decision regarding the area left behind after the attacks.\n"The foremost example in the U.S. of foregoing commercial opportunity in order to have some kind of special public space is Central Park," he said. "The 9/11 space, on the other hand, is sacred in a way that the park was not."\nHowever, sophomore Erin McShea believes that rebuilding on Ground Zero would actually be a tribute to those killed and a symbol of American strength. \n"I think if we rebuild, it shows how strong the United States can be and that we weren't beaten by (the attacks)."\n-- The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact staff writer Kehla West at krwest@indiana.edu.