RIGHT ANSWER NEEDED FOR WTC REPLACEMENT.

Byline: Samantha Kimmel Local View

THURSDAY was the last day. The last day. In New York City, thousands and thousands of workers have cleared the site of the World Trade Center of its last bits of rubble, debris and, too sadly to put into words, deceased people.

The site was variously known as ``The Pile,'' ``The Pit'' and ``The Hole.'' I think the most accurate was ``ground zero.'' What happened to the buildings, the people in New York, and the rest of the country - living and dead - was, after all, an overt and declared act of war.

Businesses and homes surrounding the Twin Towers also were destroyed and lives ruined. Many fled the area, settling in New Jersey, never to return. The economic impact has been enormous; the human toll incalculable.

And they still haven't identified nearly 1,800 human beings who were known to have been inside the towers. They never will.

The workers, those brave, caring souls who have been literally picking with a fine-toothed comb through the rubble transferred from ground zero to a holding area at Fresh Kills Landfill (the irony of that name is just too deep) are being emotionally wrecked; some wake up in the middle of the night from horrific nightmares about what they do during the day. Some have those nightmares while awake.

I pray that someone, somewhere is taking steps to take care of them.

Many complained over the years that the Twin Towers were ugly; that the site had simply removed Manhattan Street, which a was quick and easy thoroughfare from east to west in that area; that it was just too big and domineering.

Then there were those who found the towers a soaring complement to the ever-changing yet always instantly recognizable Manhattan skyline.

Those who had been inside the buildings marveled at the architecture within, the four-story-high foyers, the simple grandeur of it all.

But now, no matter which side of the aesthetic debate you fell on, the towers are gone - the buildings ripped away in sudden, deliberate and utterly impossible to fathom acts of rage, and we were all affected.

What do we put there now?

Before we figure out what to do with the site, we have to figure out what it is we've got on our hands.

Is it just a new building site? Or is it hallowed ground? Is it even our decision to make? After all, the land belongs to the state of New York, through the Port Authority; it took the area, by power of eminent domain, and leased it to a businessman who built the tower complex.

Do we put up a plaque, plant a couple of trees and a lawn, then commence with rebuilding, bigger and better with a ``Take that, Osama!'' attitude?

So, the last day has come. The area of lower Manhattan that was known as the Twin Towers Complex has been razed and transformed into what?

I hope someone much more wise than I comes up with the right answer.

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Photo:

A helicopter suspends a 15,000-square-foot American flag over Manhattan, The recovery effort at ground zero, lower right, was officially concluded Thursday.

Stuart Ramson/Associated Press