It’s official – after six long years, the much-anticipated Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is now open for business. The dedication was held last week (you may have heard about Harry Reid and his comment about smelly tourists). But if you haven’t heard of it before, then let me tell you some of the basics:
- Construction began in 2001. Since that time, the entrance and surrounding areas to the outside of the Capitol have been blocked off. (As a side note – this is the first time since I moved here that I’ve been able to see the outside of the Capitol up close.)
- As of 2000, the US Capitol received more than three million visitors a year (I’m guessing it’s increased quite a bit since then)
- The 9/11 attacks necessitated some plan changes and thus increased the cost of the visitor center by an extra $100 million dollars.
- The building contains 580,000 square feet which is divided into exhibits, a cafeteria, two orientation theaters, an auditorium, gift shops, and office space for the House and Senate.
- Total cost of project: over $600 million dollars.
- The CVC is open from 8:30-4:30 and is free to visit and does not require a ticket. (Tickets are required for tours of the Capitol itself.)
Around here, the opening of the CVC is a big deal. People have been waiting for years for construction to be finished.
It’s been an eyesore, quite frankly, and the subject of much discussion, so people are definitely glad to have the project completed. And I have to say that they did a great job.
Let me show you what I mean.
A tree-lined path leads to the front entrance of both the Capitol and the CVC.
To the left of the sidewalk, a long set of stairs leads to the visitor center, which is completely underground.
The entrance is heavily guarded (as are all entrances) by Capitol police. One of the goals of the CVC is to create a secure public environment, which means lots of police and bag screening.
Once through the main entrance, visitors go through another set of doors before entering the main hall.
We took the other way around, entering from the Capitol itself, so we came in through the back door, so-to-speak. This was our view:
The statue that you see here
is the Statue of Freedom.
It is the original plaster model created by Thomas Crawford in 1858 that was shipped (in five pieces) from Rome, Italy and then used to cast the bronze statue that now sits on the top of the Capitol dome.
The statue stands guard in front of the Exhibition Hall (where no pictures are allowed). As far as exhibitions goes, this one is top of the line. Unfortunately, the picture I found on the Architect of the Capitol website doesn’t accurately show the beauty of the place, but you can get an idea.
The first thing you see when entering the room is an eleven-foot tall scale model of the Capitol Dome. The rest of the exhibits center around the history of the Capitol and Congress, including two small theaters that offer films about the House and the Senate. And directly in the middle of the exhibitions is the catafalque (or bier). This catafalque was used to support President Lincoln’s coffin has he lay in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol in 1865. It has been used in every Capitol lying-in-state ceremony since then, including President Ronald Reagan’s ceremony in 2004.
After leaving the Exhibition Hall, you find yourself in the main lobby again. It is rather large, rectangular room that has several of the state statues taken from the Capitol. (Each state is represented by a statue of someone from that state who made a note-worthy contribution during their lifetime.)
Here is Wyoming’s statue of Washakie who lived from around 1800-1900. He is one of the most respected Native American leaders in history and is the only known Native American to be given a full military funeral when he died.
The other remarkable features in the main lobby are the large skylights, one on either side of the room.
The skylights offer a unique view of the Capitol Dome that is quite magnificant.
In fact, you can see them from outside the Capitol itself. At first they look like reflecting pools but closer investigation reveals that they are skylights.
While $600 million is a lot to spend, they did a great job on the construction – definitely worth a visit to the Capitol to check out the new CVC. And speaking of the Capitol, we toured through that amazing building too. More pictures of that next time…
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