Original 4 World Trade Center — Southeast Plaza Building
Joseph worked on the original 4 World Trade Center in its completion year. On 9/11, much of the nine-story building was destroyed by the collapse of the South Tower; damaged remnants survived briefly before being removed during the Ground Zero cleanup. A new 4 WTC later rose on the rebuilt campus.
Aerial view of the World Trade Center plaza in 1978, with the original 4 World Trade Center among the low plaza buildings. A general plaza view, not a photograph of Kelly's masonry scope.
1978 · Photo: Balthazar Korab · Library of Congress, no known copyright restrictions · Source
Why this project matters
- Project identity
- Verified
- Kelly connection
- Family source
- Masonry scope
- Probable
Rita’s list
Transcription: S.E. Plaza - World Trade Center — 1975
Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record
KM-110
1 of two
“S.E. Plaza - World Trade Center — 1975”
The original 4 WTC was completed in 1975. FEMA classified it as a partial collapse after 9/11, while the 9/11 Memorial & Museum describes it as damaged beyond repair. Remaining portions were later removed; the current 72-story 4 WTC opened in 2013.
One of the strongest family-to-city-history connections in the archive, but one that requires careful language: Joseph worked on a 1975 building that was largely destroyed and rendered unsalvageable on 9/11, with remnants later removed during cleanup. The 4 WTC designation now belongs to a completely different tower on the rebuilt World Trade Center campus.
What Kelly did here
Family source
Probable
Likely: selective masonry alteration/restoration: likely brick or stone repair/rebuilding, repointing, opening/infill work, plus new CMU/block backing or partitions where the renovation required them.
This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.
The construction team
- 01Architect
Minoru Yamasaki & Associates; Emery Roth & Sons
- 02GC / construction manager
Tishman Realty & Construction — main builder for original WTC complex; exact 4 WTC package to confirm
What happened to it
Largely destroyed / partially collapsed on 9/11; remaining portions later removed
The current 4 World Trade Center is a 72-story, 2.3-million-square-foot office tower designed by Fumihiko Maki at 150 Greenwich Street. Opened in November 2013, it remains in active office use on the rebuilt World Trade Center campus.
World Trade Center site, Lower Manhattan, New York, NY
Sources
4 citedOpen →
- 01commons.wikimedia.org
Category:4 World Trade Center (1975)
- 02commons.wikimedia.org
Category:World Trade Center (1970–2001)
- 03loc.gov
2021644076
- 04commons.wikimedia.org
File:Pre 9 11 WTC 4 in NYC (2001 08 21).jpg
- Balthazar Korab · Public domain · Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons · 1978
Aerial view of the World Trade Center plaza in 1978, with the original 4 World Trade Center among the low plaza buildings. A general plaza view, not a photograph of Kelly's masonry scope.
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