Work Begins on Ground Zero Church Destroyed on 9/11

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Oct 31, 2014

Work Begins on Ground Zero Church Destroyed on 9/11

Construction has begun on a New York City church that was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks; St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is expected to reopen in 2016

Christian Today reports that the new church will stand on the corner of Liberty and Greenwich streets and will have a capacity of about 150 people -- about double the original capacity. 

A meditation area will be all be added to serve as “a refuge for people in need of spiritual comfort, regardless of their specific beliefs or unbeliefs,” said the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Archbishop Demetrios. 

"We remember this very place filled with ruins, hiding under piles of debris, the pulverised remains of 3,000 innocent victims. Breathing a very heavy air, saturated with the dust of storm, wood, iron and with tiny particles of human bodies, we remember walking with heavy hearts to the specific place where our St. Nicholas stood as a building. ...The church was not there. We stood there frozen, paralyzed, and cried,” Demetrios said at the recent groundbreaking ceremony.

New York Governor George Pataki said that rebuilding the church will restore the faith of New Yorkers. 

"We had remembrance, we had commerce, but without St Nicholas, we did not have faith. Well now today, we have remembrance, we have commerce, we have that rock, we have faith, right here at St Nicholas,” Pataki said. 

Publication date: October 31, 2014



Work Begins on Ground Zero Church Destroyed on 9/11