During the September 11th attacks, hundreds of people escaped down the Vesey Street staircase to safety.  The “Survivors’ Staircase,” as it’s known, is now itself safe in the underground space that will become the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Although the staircase made it through September 11th relatively undamaged, its condition had begun to deteriorate as a result of nearby construction.  If the structure hadn’t been named an endangered historical place by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it might have been destroyed.

However, Joe Daniels, the president and CEO of the Memorial & Museum, stated in an email, “[D]edicated crews at the World Trade Center site labored to transport and position this 21 foot high, 64 foot long concrete remnant.  As 25 construction professionals, conservators, structural engineers, and Memorial & Museum staff kept careful watch, the Stairs, securely set within a flatbed transporter truck, passed under a nearby pedestrian overpass crossing the West Side Highway with a mere four inches of clearance.”

Next, “Weighing some 116,000 pounds, the Stairs were then lifted by the single cable of a 500-ton crane, pivoted, and lowered more than 70 feet to bedrock.  Now safely placed within the foundations of the Memorial & Museum, the Stairs will be repositioned in the coming months for their final installation.”

The Survivors’ Staircase is the first non-in situ artifact to become arrive at the site.  It should become visible to the public again when the National September 11 Memorial & Museum opens in about four years’ time.