Delayed 60,000-SF City Museum Project Moves Ahead

WASHINGTON, DC-After a delay due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, work on the District’s first City Museum is under way. The $24-million project is scheduled for completion in 2003 and will be housed in the Carnegie Library. The district is leasing the library to the Historical Society of Washington, DC–which will oversee the museum–for $1 a year for the next 99 years.

Upon completion, the arts facility will offer 60,000 sf of exhibits chronicling the city’s colorful 200-year history. Washington architectural firm Devrouax & Purnell and New York’s RKK&G Museum and Cultural Facilities Consultants are responsible for the project’s design. Patrons will walk on a map of the city embedded in the floor and there will be interactive multimedia displays, a reference library and a reading room. The new museum will neighbor the city’s new $778-million convention center, which is also scheduled to open in 2003.