People gather around the plaster model of the Statue of Freedom, which was used to cast the bronze Statue of Freedom which tops the Capitol Dome, following the opening ceremony for the United States Capitol Visitor Center on Capitol Hill on Dec. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
by Frank James
It's opening four years later than it was supposed to and cost tens of millions of dollars more than was initially budgeted, but at least the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center has finally, officially arrived, just in time for Inauguration Day, 2009 and the millions of people expected to visit Washington on Jan. 20.
The main idea for the center was to be a comfortable place where thousands of daily visitors to the Capitol can cool their heels as they wait to tour the sprawling building.
The facility also contains meeting spaces for lawmakers. One group of daily users of the facility that has already discovered problems with it is the Capitol Hill Police.
According to Roll Call (subscription required):
But the Capitol Police officers providing that security are cramped in their new CVC quarters, with crowded break rooms and lockers that some say are too small to hold all of their equipment.
Union officials said the crowds during day shifts are the worst -- with male officers almost unable to change in a jam-packed locker room.
"The locker room is all but inaccessible at 7 a.m.," said Mike Detorie, who represents about 60 officers as the CVC shop steward for the Capitol Police Labor Committee. "It's functionally useless."
The Washington Post provides some of the reactions of real visitors on this, the first day the center has been officially open to the public.
They let the first real people -- true tourists -- into the new subterranean building today, a couple of hours after Reid and other congressional leaders addressed a crowd of their colleagues, staff members and invited guests as sunshine streamed through the skylights into the center's Emancipation Hall.
The center can shelter and entertain up to 4,000 visitors as they await their tour of the Capitol, replacing block-long lines that snaked outside the Capitol doors, exposing tourists to rain, snow or hot summer sun.
"We've been waiting for this for years," Karl Phillips said. "In the summer it gets so hot here you could stand in the steaming heat and pouring rain for hours. For people who don't live here, it's not something they're going to give up on, so they just stood and waited."
Phillips and his wife, Kathleen, pulled their two boys -- Ryan, 11, and Sean, 12 -- out of school in Leesburg today for the center's opening.
"We've seen all the construction for years," he said. "Now we're one of the first families to see this."
The center, which is two-thirds the size of the Capitol itself, provides far more than shelter from the elements. It's lined with statues of prominent Americans -- some famous, some not.
Philo T. Farnsworth of Utah, who invented the television; Po'pay of New Mexico, who helped the Pueblo tribe survive; John M. Clayton of Delaware, who held many offices but is most noted for negotiating the agreement for a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific; and 21 other statues.
The center also has two theaters that provide a cinematic introduction to the Capitol and a 16,500-foot exhibition hall full of historical documents and displays. Among them, Thomas Jefferson's justification for funding for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, George Washington's letter informing Congress of the victory at Yorktown and a ceremonial copy of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Comments
Yeah, it was hot and the weather was lousy but at least you felt like you had access. Now it's more Disneyland than even Walt would have wanted.
Did you know there's an unused tomb for George and Martha under the rotunda? Discuss or Google.
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport ☮ | December 2, 2008 6:34 PM
Not to mention that it was over budget and behind schedule - but then again, it is the federal gov't. Remember, they want to be put in charge of your health care.
Posted by: Terry | December 2, 2008 8:33 PM
....but we can't afford national health insurance.
Posted by: C.Morris | December 2, 2008 9:26 PM
BTW, I preferred the old, classical entrance to the Museum of S and I in Chicago to the new entry hall opened ten years ago (?) or so. The old entry had a great, impressive grandeur to it as you entered the main hall from the outside of the building, as it was intended.
This capitol entry 'system' smacks of the same 'mall entrance' bs.
Posted by: C.Morris | December 2, 2008 9:35 PM
Wretched Excess Award.
Should it go to this astounding boondoggle?
Or perhaps to the Soldier Field re-do, boon to season ticket holders, crushing burden to Chicago taxpayers???
I'd say the toilet bowl should get the award.
Since it impacts just the taxpayers in Chicago.
Meanwhile Chicago hasn't ever built a concert hall with decent acoustics.
Posted by: ornery | December 2, 2008 10:14 PM