Marriott World Trade Center
Marriott World Trade Center | |
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Tishman Construction |
The Marriott World Trade Center was a 22-story, 825-room hotel within the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in April 1981 as the Vista International Hotel and was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836. It was also unofficially known as World Trade Center 3 (WTC 3 or 3 WTC), and the World Trade Center Hotel, officially the Vista Hotel, and the Marriott Hotel throughout its history.
The hotel was damaged in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It was destroyed by structural damage caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center as a result of the September 11 attacks. The hotel was not replaced as part of the new World Trade Center complex, although its address was reused for a tower at 175 Greenwich Street.
Description
The building was a 22-story steel-framed structure[2] with 825 rooms and six basement levels (labeled B1 through B6).[3]
The hotel was connected to the
The hotel featured two restaurants: The Tall Ships Bar and Grill, located on Street level, and the Greenhouse Café, a restaurant on plaza level that featured a large skylight looking up at the North and South tower.[6] Previously, another restaurant had operated called The American Harvest; however, it was removed following the bombing in 1993 and was renovated and remained as a rentable space called the Harvest Room.[7]
History
The hotel was first known as the Vista International Hotel, but also became known as World Trade Center 3 (WTC 3 or 3 WTC), the World Trade Center Hotel, the Vista Hotel and the Marriott Hotel.[8] The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with construction beginning in March 1979.[9] The hotel opened on April 1, 1981, with 100 of 825 rooms available,[10] and it was completed in July 1981.[11] Shortly before the opening day of the Vista, a fire broke out on the 7th floor.[1] The Vista International was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836.[10][12]
Kuo Hotel Corporation, based in Hong Kong, bought the hotel's leasehold in 1982 from Edward W. Ross and Jerrold Wexler.
In 2002, Host Marriott Corporation was offered an opportunity to rebuild the hotel in the same location within the World Trade Center site as its lease which was signed until 2094 had not expired. Marriott declined the offer, and in October 2003, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted on an agreement under which the Host Marriott Corporation would "surrender the premises", resulting in termination of the lease[1] and thus giving the land to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
1993 World Trade Center bombing
On February 26, 1993, the hotel was seriously damaged as a result of the
September 11 attacks
On September 11, 2001, the hotel had 940 registered guests.[20] In addition, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) was holding its yearly conference at the hotel from September 8 to 11, 2001.[21]
When
On the afternoon of September 11, photographer Thomas E. Franklin captured the now-iconic image Raising the Flag at Ground Zero, depicting the U.S. flag being raised by firefighters upon a flagpole believed to have been Marriott property located on what remained of the hotel grounds.
Aftermath
As a result of the collapse of the Twin Towers, the hotel was destroyed beyond repair. Only a small three-story section of the southernmost part of the building remained standing, all of which was eventually removed. In the remnants of the lobby, picture frames with the pictures inside them were still hanging on the walls.[citation needed] Approximately 40 people died in the hotel, including two hotel employees who had stayed to aid the evacuation and a number of firefighters who had been clearing the hotel and using it as a staging ground.[20]
In January 2002, the remnants of the hotel were completely dismantled to make way for reconstruction. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum was built where the hotel once stood.[citation needed]
The building and its survivors were featured in the television special documentary film
Gallery
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Lobby of the Marriott.
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The south face of the hotel on September 2, 2001.
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The hotel visible at the base of the Twin Towers.
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The hotel in 1993.
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The Austin J. Tobin Plaza, with the hotel visible on the top left, during the September 11th attacks.
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Debris of the South Tower collapsing onto the Marriott Hotel.
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ Hai S. Lew; Richard W. Bukowski; Nicholas J. Carino (September 2005). "Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Structural and Life Safety Systems. Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1-1)". NIST. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
- ^ "New York Marriott World Trade Center (archived website)". Archived from the original on March 2, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2001.
- ^ "New York Marriott World Trade Center". March 31, 2001. Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ "03". April 7, 2002. Archived from the original on April 7, 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA) (2002). World Trade Center Building Performance Study: Data Collection, Preliminary Observations, and Recommendations. Government Printing Office. p. 3.1. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ "The city's newest hotel, the Vista International, officially opened..." UPI. July 1, 1981. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
- ^ Eisner, Harvey (April 2002). "Terrorist Attack At New York World Trade Center". Firehouse Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2009.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ "Port Authority Sells Hotel". The New York Times. New York City. November 10, 1995. p. 4. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ Deutsch, Claudia H. (October 31, 1994). "20 Months After Bombing, Vista Hotel to Finally Reopen". The New York Times. New York City. p. 3. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (December 20, 1995). "Cabbies Gain Access to Restrooms". The New York Times. New York City. p. 3. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ Baker, William. "WTC 3" (PDF). fema.gov. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). p. 1. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
Marriott operated the hotel from 1996 until the attacks on September 11, 2001.
- ^ a b Hedgpeth, Dana (September 14, 2001). "Marriott Loses Hotels In Attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ Goldstein, Daniel (September 12, 2016). "15 years after 9/11, survivors talk about how it impacted their priorities". MarketWatch. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ Hotel Ground Zero. DocumentaryVine.com. September 11, 2009.
External links
- Marriott World Trade Center Survivors
- Stories by NABE members about the attack
- The 9/11 Hotel, a five-part documentary video on YouTube including interviews with surviving guests and workers at the Marriott World Trade Center
- Marriott World Trade Center Website – Archived on Internet Archive