WTC memorial designs unveiled by LMDC.

Eight designs for a memorial at the World Trade Center site, each trying to capture the essence of tragedy--usually coupled with a sense of either peace or resurrection--were unveiled by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation last Wednesday.

The designs, chosen by a secretive jury, mostly seem to revolve around the footprints of the lost Twin Towers. They range from "Garden of Lights," over 2,700 beacons representing each victim; to twin reflecting pools, 30 feet deep, in the former spot of the towers.

Each display, encased in glass near the Winter Garden at Two World Financial Center, was accompanied by a video in which the artist explained the intricacies and meaning of their creation. The memorials will be dedicated not only to the Sept. 11 victims, but also those of the bombing in the North Tower on Feb. 26, 1993.

The designers, a group of artists largely unknown, did not attend the ceremony.

The 13-member jury, who will judge the final winner, had been meeting for months and had reviewed each of the 5,201 proposed designs submitted from individuals in 49 states and 63 countries. Jurors included Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris and Maya Lin, architect for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

One of the jurors, Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation and former president of the New York Public Library, read a statement at the dedication ceremony. "We understand the obligation we have to the victims, to their families, to society--indeed, to history--serve the mission given to us: to remember and honor those who died, to recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save the lives of others and the compassion of all those who supported the victims' families in their darkest hour," Gregorian read.

John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the designs were driven by a spirit of compassion and determination following the attacks.

"Our elemental humanity, our compassion and our fortitude held fast," Whitehead said. "It is this humanity that guided us to where we are now."

The occasion itself wasn't completely peaceful, as the family members of some uniformed personnel who died on 9/11 feared their kin would not be separately recognized for their heroic acts.

Rosaleen Tallon, 32, who lost her brother Sean, 26, a firefighter, in the attacks, said she and family members of other firefighters was prepared to remove the names of their relatives from the memorial if they were not recognized separately.

She criticized the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation for not getting a wide range of opinions on the project. "They're not getting input from everybody," said Tallon, who wore a pin bearing a candid photo of her brother in uniform. "They're getting input from a few select people. "At least one of the designs, Inversion of Light, by Toshio Sasaki, categorized the 1993 and 2001 victims, as well as noting the civilian and non-civilian victims, as well as those who died at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa.

But Tallon questioned the wisdom of putting a PATH train on the World Trade Center site a little more than two years after the attacks--possibly "on top of tiny remains."

"Did they stroll through Pearl Harbor and put an amusement park up there?" she asked rhetorically.

The temporary PATH station opened Sunday.

At least two family members complained they either were not invited or invited at the last minute to preview the eight designs.

Ann Van Hein, whose firefighter husband Richard, 48, perished in the attacks, said she never received an invitation.

"I didn't hear anything about it till I heard it on (the radio)," she said.

A crowd of firefighters, many of whom were at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, gathered at the back of the Winter Garden hall to remind the LMDC they wanted the names of their fallen coworkers to be listed together.

John Spiech, a firefighter from Battalion 27 in the Bronx, was with Battalion 11 in Manhattan on Sept. 11. The battalion lost eight firefighters in the towers' collapse. "We're here to ensure the rescue workers will be listed together," Spiech said. "They went down together--they died together."

Daniel Libeskind, who along with David Childs, will announce the final design for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center by Dec. 13, said each design bears more scrutiny.

"They all have different qualities," he said. "One would have to study them."

Asked about distinct recognition for certain victims, Libeskind replied, "I have deep emotion that they have to recognize each victim in a profound way. But that's a decision for the LMDC and the jury to make." Kevin Rampe, president of the LMDC said he expected the jury to decide on a final memorial design by the end of the year.

He estimated the memorial's construction would be complete by 2007 or 2008. The Freedom Tower is scheduled for completion by Sept. 11, 2006.

World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein got his first look at the design while being trailed by a horde of photographers.

He studied each design meticulously, at one point asking a videographer to turn off his camera light so he could view a design without the glare. However, he left without taking questions.