For John Crocco, building the labyrinthine Perelman Performing Arts Center at Manhattan’s World Trade Center is challenging but also cathartic, because of his history at the WTC site.

On Sept. 11, 2001, at 9:03 a.m., Crocco was standing outside the 110-story south tower of the original 16-acre complex, where he worked on the 21st floor, when the skyscraper “exploded” overhead as terrorists crashed a hijacked plane into the building at the 77th floor. He fled to avoid falling debris.

“This project is very personal to me,” says Crocco, senior project manager for Sciame Construction LLC, the construction manager-at-risk for the 129,000-sq-ft theater, a deceptively simple-looking cube.

Crocco is not alone. Others on the job to create the final public piece—and only performing arts building—at the WTC’s 16-acre replacement complex have strong memories that render the theater special to them and motivate them to overcome the complexities of building three reconfigurable performance halls—with major moving parts—and an exotic iridescent marble skin that changes hue, depending on the sun’s strength and angle.

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