Congregation members and Father Romas temporarily relocated to
Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral in
Brooklyn. On December 6, 2001, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, Archbishop Demetrios of America, joined by Archbishop
Iakovos and area clergy, celebrated a somber
vespers and
memorial service near the location where the church once stood. Following its collapse, donations of almost $2 million were received, as well as additional pledges of construction materials and appointments for the complete rebuilding of the church. The
Government of Greece contributed $750,000 to these efforts, Meanwhile, the plans for rebuilding the World Trade Center complex included building a new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church quite close to the original location, on the elevated
Liberty Park,
2008–2011: plans and deal breakdown On July 23, 2008, the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reached a deal with the leaders of the church for the Port Authority to acquire the lot that the church had occupied for $20 million; $10 million came from the Port Authority and $10 million from
JPMorgan Chase & Co. In March 2009, the Port Authority stated that it had stopped talking with the church and had canceled building St. Nicholas altogether. The Port Authority said that the church was asking for too much, and that they might delay the whole World Trade Center project. The Archdiocese, however, said that they just wanted the church back, and a third of the building would be a memorial for 9/11, a place where people of all faiths could pray and remember those who died in the attacks. In July 2010,
George Demos, a former SEC attorney and Republican Congressional candidate, first brought the failure to rebuild St. Nicholas Church into the national debate. Demos said that the executive director of the Port Authority,
Chris Ward, had not made rebuilding St. Nicholas church a top priority. On August 16, 2010, Demos launched a petition on his website calling on the Port Authority to rebuild the church, calling the Port Authority "disingenuous and disrespectful". On August 23, 2010, former
New York Governor
George Pataki joined George Demos at a press conference to call on the Port Authority to reopen talk with officials from the Church. During the vespers service held on December 5, 2010, Archbishop Demetrios said the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese would do anything to rebuild the church. On February 14, 2011, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Port Authority pursuant to Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act (
42 U.S.C. § 1983), requesting a grand
jury trial for not rebuilding the church.
2011: agreement to rebuild As a result of
settlement discussions mediated by the
Governor of New York's office, the Port Authority and Archdiocese agreed to an independent engineering study to determine the feasibility of siting the Church at various locations in Liberty Park. The four-month study was led by construction expert Peter Lehrer, who worked on the project on a
pro bono basis with Director of World Trade Center Construction Steven Plate and independent engineers Gorton & Partners and McNamara/Salvia, Inc. The study concluded that structural issues could be resolved to site the Church at 130 Liberty Street at significantly lower cost than originally agreed, and with no delay to construction at the World Trade Center site. Governor
Andrew Cuomo, Archbishop Demetrios, and
Christopher O. Ward, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, announced that the new church would be constructed at the intersection of
Liberty and
Greenwich Streets in
Liberty Park, exactly where it had been envisioned three years before. However, the church would be located on a plot of 4,100 square feet, about two-thirds the size of the site in the earlier proposed plan of 2008. It would also include an adjacent nondenominational bereavement center. The new church would be rebuilt on Port Authority land, on a platform above the
helical underground ramp of the
Vehicular Security Center, which houses the loading and parking areas of the new
World Trade Center. Archbishop Demetrios stated that "our pledge is to be a witness for all New Yorkers, that
freedom of conscience and the fundamental human right of
free religious expression will always shine forth in the resurrected St. Nicholas Church." According to Calatrava, who consulted Archbishop Demetrios with regard to the
liturgical and
iconographical requirements of the interior, the church would be built of steel and concrete, but the exterior would be
clad in stone using a double-wall construction method. The outer wall features thin slabs of Pentelic marble illuminated by LED lights on a nightly basis. While the layout of the interior follows a traditional Greek Orthodox pattern, St. Nicholas functions as an open, pluralistic communal gathering space accessible to the public on a regular basis, in addition to its role as a place of worship. In September 2015 a live
webcam showing the church's construction was made available. In 2015,
AHEPA chapters from across the country launched fundraising efforts hoping to raise at least $500,000 over the following two years toward the estimated $38 million project, combining contributions with private gifts and donations from the 525 parishes within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. In the spring of 2016, it was announced that proceeds totaling $100,000 from the liquidation of the assets of St. Nicholas Church in
Appleton, Wisconsin would be donated to the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Church and Shrine. The parish would be denoted as a benefactor, and a video history of their church would be present at the new St. Nicholas National Shrine. In September 2016, the
Stavros Niarchos Foundation donated 5 million dollars for the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas at the WTC. On November 29, 2016, the church structure was ceremoniously
topped out with a temporary cross, to be replaced with a permanent cross upon completion of the church
dome. On August 21, 2017, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church signed a formal
lease and purchase agreement with the Port Authority for what is to be known as The Saint Nicholas National Shrine at the World Trade Center. The final deal was signed by Rick Cotton, the Port's new executive director, just days after he took on the role. The 198-year lease runs until July 31, 2215, and has an additional 99-year extension, as well as an option to buy the land from the Port Authority at any time during the term of the lease for a nominal [i.e., $1] purchase price. However, in December 2017,
Skanska , the construction company rebuilding the
Santiago Calatrava-designed shrine, ceased work at the site in Liberty Park. The
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America had been unable to pay Skanska's bills, despite receiving $37 million in donations for the shrine. According to a December 2017 newsletter, $48,991,760 had been pledged to date, while of that amount $37,398,316 had been collected, leaving a pledge balance of just over $11 million. Following the cessation of work, the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan as well as the state Attorney General's Office opened probes into the project's finances and those of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. On May 16, 2018, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America released the results of Phase I of a
PricewaterhouseCoopers investigative report regarding the rebuilding of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine (SNCNS). The report concluded that as of December 31, 2017, the Archdiocese owed the SNCNS an aggregate of $3,504,550, excluding interest. On May 2, 2018, the Archdiocese made a $1,000,000 payment to the SNCNS thereby reducing the balance due to $2,504,550. In July 2018 the Archdiocese closed a deal with Alma Bank for a 10-year, $5.5-million mortgage to restore monies to the unfinished St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at Liberty Park, however the fresh funding was not expected to be enough to complete the project, whose cost had ballooned to $80 million. On October 16, 2018, the Special Investigative Committee (SIC) released Phase II of the PricewaterhouseCoopers investigative report to the Archdiocese, along with a summary communication based on the report. It concluded that there was no evidence that St. Nicholas funds were improperly paid to any individuals employed by or associated with the Archdiocese, and no evidence or allegation that fraud was committed in connection with the St. Nicholas project. Rather, the cost overruns appear to have been the result of change orders agreed to by Archdiocese decision-makers to address architectural concerns or enhance the design of SNCNS. In addition, the Special Investigative Committee recommended that the St. Nicholas rebuilding effort be spearheaded by a new legal entity, the "Friends of St. Nicholas," which could be affiliated with, but would be independent from the Archdiocese, with separate bank accounts and an appropriately qualified board to do the fund-raising and oversee the project. A keynote address of
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America on October 17, 2019, stated that the building of the Church should re-commence immediately with the opening of the doors scheduled by September 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the
September 11 attacks, as a tribute to those who perished, as well as a lead off to the centenary year of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. New York officials and the Port Authority estimated that the rebuilt church would be the most visited church in the United States. A nonprofit group formed in January 2020 raised $41.5 million for construction within eight months. However, this work was paused due to a general construction hiatus caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. On August 3, 2020, Governor Cuomo and Archbishop Elpidophoros attended a ceremony that was held to officially resume construction. The marble facade was installed in February 2021.
2022: opening The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine was officially
consecrated on July 4, 2022. The consecration was celebrated jointly by Archbishop
Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, Metropolitan Nicholas Pissare of Detroit, and Metropolitan
Savas Zembillas of Pittsburgh. The consecrated altar was signed by all of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese hierarchs who were present, as well as by the two living former Archbishops of America —
Spyridon Papageorge and
Demetrios Trakatellis, including Protopresbyter
Alexander Karloutsos, together with Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis (
el) of
Chalcedon and Metropolitan Prodromos Xenakes (
el) of
Rethymnon,
Crete, who were representing the
Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church fully opened for regular services on December 6, 2022, the
Feast of Saint Nicholas. Architecture critic
Justin Davidson wrote for
Curbed that the new church was "a refined pocket project", especially as compared with the much larger
World Trade Center Transportation Hub, also designed by Santiago Calatrava. == Notes ==