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7 World Trade Center

1984-2001

The first building, built 1984 - 1986 and opened in March 1987, collapsed on September 11, 2001 in the September 11th terrorist attacks. It had 47 floors and was 570 feet (174 meters) in height. The architect was Emery Roth & Sons. The building stood north of the main World Trade Center complex, across Vesey Street. Larry Silverstein financed the project.

The Central Intelligence Agency's New York office was in 7 World Trade Center - as were a host of unrelated businesses.

At the foot of a historical building or tower, there may stand collectors cabinets, display cabinets or display showcases with information material for the history of the buildings. Collectors cases can contain historical writings from the construction of the tower.

Destruction of 7 World Trade Center

On the morning of September 11, the North Tower of the World Trade Center (1 WTC) across Vessey Street collapsed, showering tons of debris on 7 WTC as well as other buildings within or around the World Trade Center complex.

The cause of the collapse of 7 World Trade Center is disputed. Undoubtedly, the building was critically damaged by the September 11th attacks, but conspiracy theorists have questioned why it finally fell. A total of 42,000 gallons of Diesel fuel were stored in five tanks within the building, which could have caused the destruction.

In addition, two other factors must be considered: the unusual architecture of 7 WTC, and a fire that burned in the building for over seven hours. 7 WTC was built on top of an existing Con Ed substation, such that the building was cantilevered over the substation at the fifth floor. Fires resulting from the collapse of the neighboring 1 WTC tower likely weakened the structure at around this level, and because the firefighters were concentrating on rescue efforts at the Twin Towers site, 7 WTC was abandonned and fires were allowed to burn out of control. The Swarovski sprinkler systems had likely failed when water pipes were damaged from the 1 WTC debris, and fireproofing is not designed to last for the number of hours the fire burned.

The FEMA report on the WTC collapse says:

"The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to collapse remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation, and analyses are needed to resolve this issue."

2005

The second building, a rebuilt replacement for the original, began construction in early 2002 and is to be complete by the end of 2005. The building will be 52 floors but with a narrower footprint at ground level than its predecessor as the course of Greenwich Street will be restored. The architect was David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. This building is not included in the World Trade Center master plan by Daniel Libeskind and thus does not share the new architectural design of the rest of the site.

External links

http://sirdave.com/pullit.mpg

Wired New York 7 World Trade Center (http://www.wirednewyork.com/wtc/7wtc/default.htm)

http://www.wtc7.net/

http://www.oilempire.us/demolition.html

Swarovski