Culture's Place at Ground Zero Examined By Etta Sanders Does it matter if there are no cultural institutions at Ground Zero? This was one of the questions posed at a Dec. 12 panel discussion called "What's Happening to the Arts at Ground Zero," held by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at the New School. The discussion came in the wake of the removal of two museums-the International Freedom Center and the SoHo-based Drawing Center-from a cultural building adjacent to the memorial after they were deemed too controversial by some families of Sept. 11 victims and by Governor Pataki. A performing arts center to be built adjacent to the Freedom Tower, to house the Joyce and Signature theaters, has faced delays because of costs. In Daniel Libeskind's original master plan for the site, cultural institutions were intended as a kind of mediator between the contemplative memorial space and the commercial bustle of stores and office towers, and as a way to enliven the area for visitors and residents. The recent changes have left the site plan resembling downtown Hartford, said Robert Yaro, head of the Regional Plan Association. "The program is basically a shopping mall, an office park and a memorial. It turns out shopping malls and office parks don't co-exist really well with sacred places," he said. Historian Mike Wallace, author of the book, "Gotham," a history of New York City, said that the creation of memorials has frequently stirred controversy. "It's highly contentious and always has been," Wallace said, adding that it's unclear whether cultural institutions are essential. "I'm not sure what it means to have a theater or a dance troupe on the site when they could be somewhere else." Moderator Paul Goldberger, dean of Parsons School of Design, architecture critic at The New Yorker and the author of "Up From Zero," a book about the redevelopment process for the trade center site, contended that a small group of family members had been given veto power over what happens at the site. "Who owns Ground Zero?" he asked, "Should culture at Ground Zero be different than culture in other parts of the city? Is living culture and a memorial as incompatible as a shopping mall and a memorial?" Yaro said that as the controversy about the museums was playing out, he tried to think of what kind of institution would be safe. "I thought maybe a Norman Rockwell museum. Then I remembered even Norman Rockwell had some very controversial paintings." Artist Hans Haacke weighed in that if safe art was the criteria, then he was pessimistic. "Is there hope? I would say no," Haacke said. "This is a site where free speech must be enforced." Diane Horning, whose son died at the World Trade Center, said during a question-and-answer period following the discussion that she and others were opposed to the museums' proximity to the memorial, not to their content. The building that was to house the Freedom Center and Drawing Center will still be a place for culture, she said, but is needed to display Sept. 11-related art, such as quilts and pictures created by children in reaction to the terrorist attacks. "Please don't think that we hate culture, that we hate art," she said. "It's just that the art can be tied to what happened there." Tom Bernstein, co-founder of the International Freedom Center, countered that limiting cultural expression to only Sept. 11-related art would miss an opportunity for a greater educational experience at the site. "If we have institutions that are only dealing with the day of 9/11 in a very narrow context, I don't think that will stand the test of time," he said. By the end of the evening there were no definitive answers, but a feeling that the final plans were still in flux. Bernstein seemed to suggest that the Freedom Center could be put on another part of the site, although none has been offered. "In our minds the location was always central," Bernstein said, "but things can change." Goldberger said the discussion was about politics as much as culture and attributed many of the problems to what he called Gov. Pataki's "failure of vision" or "excessive timidity due to national ambitions." With Mayor Bloomberg now exerting more influence over the rebuilding plans, he said, there could be significant changes. "I have a certain amount of confidence in his willingness to take an assertive role, and that will begin to transform the picture," he said. Yaro concurred. "I don't think it's over yet," he said.