Cornerstone for new tower at WTC site removed

Even the symbol of new beginnings at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center wasn't immune from the realities of redesign and renegotiation. The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower, the soaring skyscraper that will replace the World Trade Center, was quietly and temporarily removed from the site Friday, nearly two years after it was laid with much fanfare, The New York Times reported Saturday. That ceremony in July 2004 was supposed to signal the start of construction. Instead, it initialized years of hand-wringing and argument over the building's design. Authorities finally concluded that the cornerstone would need to be moved. Its location was obsolete by the building's reconfiguration.