Battle for Ground Zero by Elizabeth Greenspan

This is an agonizing story that every American needs to be aware of, as the 12th anniversary of 9/11 has just passed.  Urban anthropologist Elizabeth Greenspan has written Battle for Ground Zero to answer the burning question, "When are they going to build something at Ground Zero?"  Most Americans outside of New York aren't aware of the trials and tribulations of the 16-acre site in the years following the attack.  Although a slogan of the aftermath was "America the Re-build-iful," the victims' families didn't want to rebuild at all, seeing the site as sacred ground.  That dichotomy is painstakingly detailed; even a simple act like building a viewing platform or putting up a fence is fraught with controversy.  The book recounts every phase of the process, from the selection of the master plan, to the design and construction of the memorial, museum and Freedom Tower. Greenspan gives equal time to the victims and the politicians and introduces us to the designers and architects who are caught in the middle.  In the end the reader gains an understanding of why it took ten years to build the memorial and design the museum and hopes that the soon-to-be-completed Freedom Tower lives up to its name.

Dawn