By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Steel for One World Trade Center has shot up to the 52nd story, marking the halfway point for the 104-story tower, the Port Authority announced Wednesday.
Formerly known as the Freedom Tower, the skyscraper will stand 1,776 feet tall when it is scheduled to open in 2013. The height includes a 408-foot antenna that will rise above the office floors.
The tower has been going up at the rate of about one floor per week, a pace that is expected to continue. Workers started installing the gleaming glass and steel facade last month.
Designed by David M. Childs, the $3.2 billion tower will stand tallest in the city when it is completed.
The skyscraper recently captured the city's attention when construction workers lit it up like an enormous Christmas tree, using colored bulbs.
