From staff reports

In the weeks after Sept.

Wednesday, December 05, 2001

In the weeks after Sept. 11, most of us wondered if the mighty Twin Towers would ever be rebuilt. That’s still an unanswered question.

But a building that fell victim to what used to be the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil – the federal building in Oklahoma City, Okla. – will be rebuilt. Workers broke ground on the project Tuesday.

In its design, it may be a precursor to a replacement for the World Trade Center, and for other new buildings in America. It will be only 3-1/2 stories high – wide and low to the ground. The reinforced structure will contain explosion-resistant glass facing a courtyard that divides the building and creates an entrance into a single lobby. It will be designed so that open areas can be easily monitored.

It will be a brick-and-mortar monument to the damage terrorism can do to a nation’s psyche. Is this what important new buildings across America will begin to look like – terror-proof above all?

Maybe it is. And maybe that’s not a bad thing.

The reality of this new age is that America’s best chance to avoid further destruction is to think ahead and do what it can to thwart further terrorism. Designing buildings to keep them safer is as natural now as building earthquake-resistant buildings on the San Andreas fault.