Nearly 17 years after it was severely damaged in the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, and then temporarily shuttered, the Cortlandt Street station is set to open this October. Running on the 1-line, the new station, expected to serve thousands of workers and tourists visiting the site, will boast Ann Hamilton’s artwork, featuring words from the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of Independence (h/t Daily News). Cortlandt Street station was meant to open in 2014, but funding disputes between the Port Authority and the MTA delayed its completion until this year.
Located directly under the World Trade Center site, the station was crushed by the collapse of Two World Trade Center. In order to restore service to Rector Street and South Ferry stations, workers demolished the rest of Cortlandt and built walls where the platforms stood. The line was able to reopen a year after 9/11, with trains bypassing the station.
In 2008, the Port Authority and the MTA reached an agreement about the station’s reconstructing, which said the MTA would pay the Port Authority to rebuild Cortlandt under the WTC Hub contract. Seven years later, the MTA took over the project and faced more delays, stemming from design changes and slow contractors. Since May 2015, workers have installed finishing touches, including new tiles and lighting.
The $182 million WTC station will bring more convenience to commuters and less time spent walking outside between stations. Jessica Lappin, the president of Downtown Alliance, told the Daily News, that the number of private-sector jobs in Lower Manhattan has returned to pre-9/11 days at 242,000 jobs.
“This is the right moment, where people want the connectivity and they want to be able to take the 1 train south of Chambers,” Lappin told the Daily News.
[Via NY Daily News]