By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Would a mosque by any other name still cause so much controversy?
After 9/11 family members and others objected to plans for the Cordoba House, a 13-story mosque near Ground Zero, the group behind the center rebranded it this week as Park51.
The more innocuous name is taken from the $100 million center’s address at 45-51 Park Place.
The name Cordoba House will still refer to the planned mosque and interfaith center, while Park51 will refer to the building as a whole, including a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, a culinary school, a gym, a pool, art studios and meditation rooms.
“Park51 will be a friendly space for ideas and a cultural venue to broaden our minds and lift our spirits,” the venture’s new website states.
Those who oppose the mosque slammed the Cordoba name shortly after it was announced in May, saying that it symbolized the Muslim conquest of Cordoba, Spain.
The Cordoba Initiative, the group building the mosque, countered that Cordoba was a place where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in harmony 800 years ago, an example they hope to follow at the new center.
The new name is unlikely to convince nonbelievers of the center’s good faith.
“No matter what they do, a mosque is a mosque is a mosque,” said Paul Sipos, 69, a TriBeCa resident and Community Board 1 member who said the project is insensitive.
The new Park51 website also addresses Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio and others’ concerns about where the money to finance the center is coming from.
The Cordoba Initiative has not raised money from foreign governments for the project and will fundraise separately for the secular and religious components of the center, the website states.
