The official name of the
U.S Pentagon rebuilding following the damage the building sustained on
September 11th, 2001. The name "
Phoenix Project" is derived from the
mythological bird of
rebirth and
immortality.
On
October 18, 2001, slightly over a month after the
9/11 attacks, full scale
demolition began of the entire
damaged area. The goal was also set to reoccupy everything affected at the point of
impact by
September 11, 2002.
On
November 19, 2001, four weeks ahead of schedule, demolition was completed. The
reconstruction phase of the project began that same exact day.
February 25, 2002, the first slab of new
limestone was placed on the face of the
Pentagon. By
April 5th, 2002 the structural
concrete work was completed and by
June 11th, 2002 the last of approximately 4,000 pieces of new limestone was placed on the face of the Pentagon.
On
August 15th, 2002,
tenants from the affected part of the
Pentagon moved back in, and sure enough, by
September 11th, 2002, the area affected by the initial
point of impact was reoccupied and
operational. A total of 3,000 Pentagon tenants returned to work. Although the true date in which the
U.S Pentagon went back to being fully operational is when the entire
west side of the building was
February 14th, 2003 (
Valentine's Day) was reoccupied.
All in all, the project rebuilt 400,000
square feet of
office space damaged on
9/11, removed 50,000
tons of
debris, involved 3,000
people and cost 526
million dollars.