When the twin towers of the World Trade Centre crashed down on September 11th, the half-completed Irish Hunger Memorial a block away was enveloped in the dust storm which followed. Work was abandoned as lower Manhattan became a recovery zone and rescue workers requisitioned building material and machinery. Workers have now been allowed back, and this weekend 86 trucks with 500 tons of concrete arrived to provide the base for an elevated half-acre Irish field representing post-Famine Ireland. An American flag flutters from the gable end of the 19th century cottage brought stone by stone from Attymass, outside Ballina, Co Mayo, that forms the centrepiece of the $4.7 million memorial on Vesey Street. The flag was hoisted by Frank Rubinic of Cashin Associates, the construction management firm at the site, in the spirit of patriotism after the attacks.
The five-week break in construction has been costly: architect Brian Tolle said that planting time had been lost and the field of overgrown potato furrows and indigenous grasses, weeds and wild flowers meant to evoke the desolation of the Irish Famine will not be growing in time for the planned opening in March next year.
Mr Tolle was one of the few people to see the first plane hit the World Trade Centre as he supervised work on September 11th. His abiding memory is of the noise as it appeared to speed up towards impact. When he returned to the site he felt the early-morning sun on his face and realised with a start what was different: before now the first rays of the sun had been blocked by the twin towers.