A November opening would come a month ahead of the original schedule. The facility would serve passengers traveling between Lower Manhattan and New Jersey until the completion of a permanent station.

Over the summer, the Port Authority entered into contract with a joint venture featuring DMJM+Harris and STV to provide architectural services on the permanent World Trade Center terminal. That group will partner with architect Santiago Calatrava; Parsons; William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates; Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C.; Jaros, Baum & Bolles; and Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers.

The permanent PATH terminal-a major transportation hub and key part of the rebuilt World Trade Center site-would link to a new Fulton Street Transit Center at Broadway and Fulton via an underground concourse. According to the LMDC, the PATH terminal is expected to cost up to $2 billion and come together over three to six years. The Fulton Street Transit Center is slated to cost $750 million and take three to four years to complete.

On June 30, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey rode the first PATH train into the new Exchange Place, the last stop in Jersey City before the line links to the World Trade Center. The critical station had been out of operation since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That $160-million restoration project, which took 21 months, involved construction of new crossover tunnels and new track work.

New $21 Million Seaport Museum

The South Street Seaport Museum is planning for a new exhibition space in Schermerhorn Row, part of the "original" world trade center in Lower Manhattan. The 30,000 square foot facility will open this fall in two historic buildings that have undergone extensive interior renovations to link them and create five floors of exhibition space. The $21 million project will produce 24 separate galleries for museum visitors.

The historic structures-a landmark 1812 building on Fulton Street and the 1850 A.A. Low Building fronting Burling Slip-required careful renovation work to replace aged floors, and complex logistics since retail and residential tenants share space in them. Preserved elements of the buildings include remains of the old Fulton Ferry hotel and 130-year old graffiti written in Gaelic.

The site is close to piers where early American ships set sail for China as the world of international trade expanded, helping to establish New York as a major port and economic power.

Mayor Proposes Coordinated Construction Act

N.Y.C. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to spearhead new state legislation that aims to speed up construction in Lower Manhattan and promote cost efficiency. Bloomberg described the approach as a "seven-point" plan to allow public agencies to work together quickly to spur the area's redevelopment.

The highlights of the plan, called the "Coordinated Construction Act for Lower Manhattan" would:

• allow public agencies to pre-qualify bidders;
  
• allow the city to bid together with utility and communications firms on infrastructure projects to curtail redundant under-street work;
  
• require the use of contractors with state-certified apprenticeship programs;
  
• require the city to follow state laws on hiring of minority and women-owned businesses;
  
• allow the use of owner-controlled insurance programs and alternate dispute resolution;
  
• require public agencies to use ultra low diesel fuel for construction vehicles;
  
• and make it easier for public agencies to purchase construction goods.

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Downtown Notes

…A counseling and therapy center has opened near Ground Zero to help downtown residents and workers affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers operates its new World Trade Center Services office at 170 Broadway. Its free services include counseling, support groups, stress management programs, and alternative therapies like acupuncture. Saint Vicent is receiving funding from the federal Project Liberty program.

…The Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers has released a report entitled "Rebuilding the World Trade Center." A committee headed by Robert Borg, chairman of Kreisler Borg Florman General Construction Company, drafted the report, which is available at www.constructioninst.org.