Spire On Top Of One World Trade Center Test Lit For The First Time
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The city experienced a major milestone on Friday night when the spire on the top of One World Trade Center was test lit for the first time.
The spire and beacon stand 408 feet tall. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Friday the beacon is packed with 288 50-watt LED modules that can be seen up to 50 miles.
The LED modules produce 288,000 lumens of light.
Inside of Four World Trade Center waterfalls rushed and blue skies soared over the depths of a forest, creating a deliberate sense of calm, CBS 2's Alice Gainer reported.
"If you look closely you won't be able to observe the fact that we're directly across the street from the 9/11 memorial museum and everything that entails," developer Larry Silverstein said.
The 72-floor, 2.5-million square foot building, was designed by Fumihiko Maki. Silverstein described it as being "very different" from an architectural standpoint.
The building features a floor to ceiling glass lobby, a 400-pound titanium structure, and is shaped like a parallelogram that narrows into a smaller trapezoid. There are no columns inside, Gainer reported.
"The idea is to have an unfettered view of the park and everything that contains it," Silverstein said.
In front of the building is a paved road where pedestrian traffic and limited vehicle traffic connect TriBeCa and the Financial District.
"Of course you've gotta wait for now for the other buildings to be finished, but when they get done everything will be interconnected down here," Silverstein explained.
For many people, the building's most impressive feature will be its spectacular view.
"All the buildings down here have views. But none of them quite like this because this is the southern most of the buildings and as a result we have an unfettered unobstructed view to the south that's nothing short of spectacular," Silverstein said.
No matter where visitors look they will see long-awaited progress. So far, the building is 50 percent leased by the Port Authority and the City of New York, Gainer reported.
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