This morning, we had the good fortune, distinct pleasure and blessing to have been invited to attend the Consecration of the St Nicholas GO Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center in New York City.

After nearly 21 years of tremendous obstacles, legal battles, financial tribulations and bureaucratic delays, work stoppages and to top it off a shutdown due to the Covid pandemic, the construction activities persevered and after 20 years of planning and hard work it was finally completed only days ago!

Many individuals, professionals and organizations contributed a great deal towards the acquisition, development, fundraising, design and construction of this extraordinary project. I trust that all will be memorialized on some wall of the edifice itself for posterity.

I want however to take this opportunity to give a special shoutout to my friend and colleague Architect Nick Koutsomitis, who ‘s firm was assigned the heavy burden to carry out and execute the extraordinarily complex Santiago Calatrava’s Architectural design of this important monument of Orthodoxy in America. My own firm, Thornton Tomasetti, were the Structural and Facade Consultants and part of the Calatrava Design Team. Personally, I was the Principal-in-Charge and signatory of the structural design.

Recalling my periodic visits to the Constructon site over the years, I was always intrigued with the complexity of the various components & activities, from the intricate structural frame and ribbed steel dome, designed to withstand significant blast loadings, to the marble interior and exterior finishes, to mechanical and electrical systems, to the installation the exterior marble which was extracted from the same quarry as the Pentelic Parthenon marble itself, under special permission from the Greek government! I always liked to characterize the whole project as putting together an intricate and one-of-kind Swiss watch. No pun intended of course, as Santiago Calatrava’s main office, where the architectural design was largely conceived, is located in Switzerland!

Just to give you an small idea of the complexities involved, the exterior facade marble was quarried in Greece from the famous Penteli quarries. Big marble slabs then traveled to Germany, where it was cut further to precise panels, some thicker and others extremely thin and translucent to light. The cut-marble panels are then sent to neighboring Austria, where they are being assembled into special glass curtain-wall panels mounted on back-up steel framing. It was then packaged in extremely rigid steel frame pallets, to secure it during the transatlantic transportation and sent to NY, to be installed on the concrete skeleton walls and steel-framed dome. These steps became necessary of course in order to achieve the “translucency” of the exterior envelope which was a unique feature of the Calatrava design.

Furthermore, to insure the desired Architectural level of finishes, the construction work needed to proceed methodically but slowly, and as such it require d significant time to bring the project to completion, to the consternation of many, including my beloved, the late Fr. John Romas, the pastor of the old St. Nicholas Church, who after years of waiting and promoting, would urge me everywhere we met to “hurry up” because “he was afraid that he wouldn’t live long enough to see the new Church completed”! And he was prophetic indeed, God rest his soul! I would like to believe that today, he is smiling down from heaven, and that he was present in spirit at the Consecration ceremony.

At the end I am satisfied that the results are more than worth the extraordinary efforts of over 20 years in the making, as this important edifice/monument will proudly stand high up on the “Liberty Park” hill, as a testament to the Orthodoxy and to our Omogenia at large, and to tell to the World, that we as Greek-Americans with our hard work and perseverance have not only “made” it in America, but that we rightfully claim our own unique place within the American mosaic, as some of its brightest, shiniest and most colorful stones!

My good friend Nick Gage already made the well suited comparison that: “As the St Patrick’s Cathedral is to the Irish, the St. Nicholas Shrine is to the Greeks of America”!

Today, we finally “saw the light” the end of a very long tunnel, with the completion and Consecration of this extraordinary project, to the glory of God and to the credit of many people who toiled very hard to see this, one of a kind edifice to its glorious completion.

In closing, today I am reflecting on the little St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was crushed under the enormous debris of the collapsing WTC’s South Tower! I remember going to look for it 3 days after the collapse in the middle of the chaos to no avail! I also recall the latter careful excavation of the debris and the very few items recovered, including a couple of half-burned books and icons, a crushed bell and bunch of literally untouched and pristine wax candles! Personally, I was so moved by that, as I considered them the yeast for its later raising from the ashes! And the fight for the rebuilding of that precious little church continued for nearly 20 years, with untold meetings and challenges with the powerful of the Port Authority and others, and their constant war to push us out of the Ground Zero site. The titanic technical disagreements with the PA’s engineers, who tried to tell us that a Church on the subject site was impossible due to blast and other security considerations, only to prove them wrong and successfully convince NY’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, that his own engineers had no technical standing! I am also reminiscent of the gregarious efforts to carry out numerous designs with the Koutsomitis architectural firm for that little church, while negotiating its exact location and size, ending up of course with the current glorious architectural design of my friend and colleague Santiago Calatrava, which upon its adoption by the Archdiocese and a couple of false starts, we started to execute and construct nearly 15 years back, only to be plagued by bureaucratic delays and a financial scandal that brought the project to its knees and construction to a holt some 2.5 years, only to be followed by the Covid Pandemic and its shutdown. With the fresh leadership however of the new Archbishop Elpidoforos, the construction of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Shrine at Ground Zero resumed dynamically and we realized the fruits of its completion earlier this morning.

To me, personally, this project has been a very special one indeed, not only because of its extraordinary complexity, duration and all the ups and downs in between, but because it’s the very last one of my career of 45 years in the world stage of the Design/Construction business and a true and extraordinary “holy jewel”, which will shine as a beacon up on the hill for generations to come and to the Glory of the Almighty God! For these reasons and more, it’s been a true honor and privilege to be in His Service and yours.

ΤΕΛΕΤΗ ΕΓΚΑΙΝΙΩΝ ΤΟΥ Ι. ΝΑΟΥ «ΑΓΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΥ» ΣΤΟ ΣΗΜΕΙΟ ΜΗΔΕΝ ΤΗΣ ΝΕΑΣ ΥΟΡΚΗΣ

Μεγάλη και σπουδαία μέρα σήμερα που γιορτάζουμε τα εγκαίνια του ναου-προσκυνήματος του Αγίου Νικολάου στο Σημείο Μηδέν της Νέας Υόρκης! Εικοσιένα ολόκληρα χρόνια αγώνα και σκληρής δουλειάς χρειάστηκαν για να επιτευχθεί το όνειρο μας αυτό! Και σήμερα έγινε πραγματικότητα και γι’αυτο και μόνο ήμαστε υπερήφανοι που τελικά το κατορθώσαμε!

Στα ερείπια του Σημείου Μηδέν, μερικές εβδομάδες μετά την δολοφονική επίθεση τις 9ης Σεπτεμβρίου του 2001, ως υπεύθυνος των συνεργείων καθαρισμού του Ground Zero, είχα δώσει την εντολή στα συνεργεία καθαρισμού να σταματήσουν τα μηχανήματα και τους εκσκαφείς σαν έφτασαν στο σημείο των ερειπίων του παλιού ναού, για να μην καταστρέψουν τυχόν «λείψανα» του! Και αφού συνέχισαν με κυριολεκτικά «αρχαιολογική σκαπάνη», για αρκετές ημέρες, τελικά βρέθηκαν ολιγοστά «απομεινάρια» μαζί με ένα μάτσο άθικτα κεριά! Αρκετά όμως για να αποτελέσουν την μαγιά για να ξανά- φουσκώσει η ζύμη και να ανεγερθεί ο νέος μεγαλοπρεπείς ορθόδοξος ναός, που σήμερα βρίσκεται εκεί ψηλά στην κορυφή του Liberty Park, κάτασπρος από Πεντελικό μάρμαρο και Ορθόδοξος, για θα φωτίζει και να αγιάζει την μεγαλούπολη μας και ιδιαίτερα το μνημείο του Σημείου Μηδέν και να συνάμα μνημονεύει καθημερινά τις 3,000 ζωές που χάθηκαν την μακάβρια ημέρα εκείνη.

Η αναγέννηση και η ανοικοδόμηση αυτού του θαυμάσιου ορθοδόξου ναού, χώρου ανοικτού για όλους τους ανθρώπους, με σεβασμό στη διαφορετικότητα και στην ανεξιθρησκεία, αποτελεί, όχι μόνο ευκαιρία συνάντησης και διαλόγου, αλλά τη μοναδική απάντηση που είναι συμβατή με την Ορθόδοξη πίστη μας και με την αμερικανική μας ταυτότητα απέναντι στο μίσος που, εμποτισμένο από θρησκευτική μισαλλοδοξία, χτύπησε τη χώρα μας την 9η Σεπτεμβρίου του 2001.

Ειδικά σήμερα 4η Ιουλίου που γιορτάζουμε την Ελευθερία του Αμερικανικού έθνους, είναι μαλλον η πιο πρέπουσα ημέρα για τα εγκαίνια του Ναού τούτου, αφού μετά από 21 χρονια η ανύψωση του από τα ερείπια του Σημείου Μηδέν, αναδεικνύει τον θρίαμβο ενάντια του μίσους και την κυριαρχία της Ελευθερίας και της δικαιοσύνης!

Η ελευθερία αυτή έχει χαράξει την ψυχή, το μυαλό, την καρδιά και τη συνείδησή μας και ως Ελληνοαμερικανοί εορτάζουμε σήμερα την Ημέρα της Ανεξαρτησίας του έθνους μας, σύμφωνα με την παράδοσή μας, με το βλέμμα στραμμένο στο νέο όραμα για το μέλλον μας που τιμά το παρελθόν μας.

Προσωπικά, είμαι ευγνώμων και υπερήφανος που μου δόθηκε η ευκαιρία να προσφέρω ολίγον τι στην γιγαντιαία αυτή προσπάθεια, σαν δομικός μηχανικός του ναού, σε συνεργασία με τους εκλεκτούς συνεργάτες αρχιτέκτονες Νίκο Κουτσομύτη και Σαντιάγκο Καλατράβα. Τέλος σας εξομολογούμαι πως σήμερα, μετά από 21 χρονια δουλειάς, αγώνα και ταλαιπωρίας, τι στιγμή που ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής Ελπιδοφόρος μου έκανε την τιμή να συμμετάσχω στο να γεμίσει με το λάδι η καντήλα του ναού, έφυγε τελικά ένα μεγαλο βάρος από τους ώμους μου, και γι’αυτο είμαι ευγνώμων! Μακάρι η μεγάλη χάρη του Αγίου Νικολάου να μας βοηθά και να μας προστατεύει όλους που εργάστηκαν και συνέβαλαν στο ιερό έργο τούτο, και ολόκληρο τον κόσμο.