When it's complete, the Fulton Street Transit Center in lower Manhattan may look something like it's original plans after all. After a number of fits and starts, MTA officials say they are pushing forward with a design very much like the original.

"The envelope of the building will look exactly the same way as it was seen on the various renderings that were presented before," said Michael Horodniceanu, President, MTA Capital Construction Co.

But not everything will be the same. While the glass façade will be retained, a planned glass dome may well be eliminated, replaced with a skylight allowing the sun to filter inside.
And it's there on the inside, where the biggest design changes will take place, as the MTA reconfigures the space to add more shops and restaurants.

"The design that we are looking at is to increase the amount of retail space, leasable retail space, on both the street level as well as the first floor above that," Horodniceanu.

Work on the aboveground structure can't begin until the foundation is complete a year and a half from now. When the structure will be finished is still unclear.

It's also unclear where the MTA will find the money to complete the Fulton Transit Center. It was originally supposed to be paid for entirely with federal 9/11 rebuilding funds, but the project is over budget, which means the MTA will come up with about $350 million to cover cost overruns.

Meanwhile, another lower Manhattan MTA project has also run into some delays -- the brand-new South Ferry terminal, which officials had hoped to open in late December. Final testing has taken longer than expected. Transit officials say will know later this week when it will be ready to open.