Fiterman Hall, the 15-story building badly damaged in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, is set to be transformed into a state-of-the-art vertical campus, under the direction of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects.

The new Fiterman will boast a brick façade with metal and glass inset panels that will serve as a symbol of the rebirth of Lower Manhattan. It will also be an enormously important acquisition for Borough of Manhattan Community College, the CUNY campus that has been mourning Fiterman's loss over the past five years.

Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said that CUNY and BMCC, led by President Antonio Perez, have been working closely with community groups and government agencies, and will continue to do so. It is hoped that work can begin early in 2007. "The new Fiterman Hall will greatly enhance the scope and quality of educational, cultural, and community programs offered by the College," the Chancellor said. It will house 53 classrooms, 21 computer labs, 129 faculty offices and a student lounge.

Chancellor Goldstein explained that the process, which will begin after the hoped for approval by state and federal oversight agencies, is a long one. "As we prepare for the remediation and demolition of the existing Fiterman Hall, work is also proceeding on the design of a new building for the site," the Chancellor said in a statement in November.

"Pei Cobb Freed & Partners recently completed the design development phase and is now preparing construction documents. Construction of the new classroom building is scheduled to begin in 2008. We anticipate a construction period of approximately two years."

"Remediation" of the existing building refers to its decontamination, removal of any potentially harmful debris or materials. CUNY, together with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), selected PAL Environmental Safety Corp. to perform the remediation and deconstruction.

In October, PAL submitted designs for scaffolding erection operations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for review by the EPA and other regulatory agencies.

Work will begin only after the expected approval of the government agencies. To keep the community informed about the progress of work at Fiterman, the University and BMCC have launched an e-mail newsletter, "Fiterman News: Keeping Our Community Informed." Those interested in that or other aspects of the deconstruction and rebuilding process can visit www.bmcc.cuny.edu/fitermannews

At the website, visitors can view a slide show of the architect's renderings of the planned new facility and can keep informed about upcoming events related to the project, as well as read official documents.

Special concern will be taken with respect to the chance that human remains are in the area, a possibility highlighted by the discovery of scores of body parts in areas around Ground Zero in October.

"We are working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to make diligent efforts to perform new searches," Chancellor Goldstein said. "[A] meeting was held at the site with both the Chief Medical Examiner's Office and the City's Office of Disaster Manage-ment Operations to discuss search plans and inspections."

The Chancellor added, "The safety and well being of residents, our students and faculty, business and community members, and the families of the 9/11 victims is of paramount importance to the University and the College."

Located at 30 West Broadway, Fiterman Hall suffered structural damage from the roof to the basement when tons of debris rained down from the 47-story 7 World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The building was just two weeks shy of completing a $64 million renovation, including a state-of-the-art academic center and library when the attacks occurred, heavily damaging its south side.

Miles and Shirley Fiterman donated Fiterman Hall to Manhattan Community College in 1993. Erected in 1959, it was formerly an office building.

Funding for the remediation, deconstruction and rebuilding of the new structure is coming from the state and city, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the September 11 Fund and a property insurance settlement. The project budget from the city and state is $202 million.

In addition to the classrooms, offices, labs and lounge, plans call for a 14-story structure that will offer escalators to serve the lower floors and 12 high-speed elevators. The new building will contain approximately 391,000 gross square feet.

On the ground floor, it will feature a café and two interconnected art galleries, the Fiterman Galleries. Most floors contain a combination of classrooms, computer labs and faculty offices, as well as student lounges, many within two-story glass "atriums."

General education classrooms will be concentrated on the lower floors. The upper floors will house specialized departments such as accounting, business, computer information system and art and music. A conference center is planned for the top two floors.

Fiterman will have two covered entries: one on the corner of Greenwich Street and Park Place, anticipated to be the main entrance, and a second one on Barclay Street, facing a new park in front of 7 World Trade Center.

Borough of Manhattan Community College serves more than 19,000 degree-seeking students and an additional 19,000 in continuing and professional education courses.