To prevent the 160,000-sf Constitution Center from overshadowing its Colonial ancestor to the south, architect Henry N. Cobb of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners segmented the building into a cluster of distinct geographic shapes. They include a circular theater with a 360-degree projection screen, a triangular restaurant and rooftop picnic area, and a rectangular exhibit section.
Just to the south is the newly completed visitors center. A new Liberty Bell Center is under construction between the visitors center and Independence Hall. Together, these four buildings create a pedestrian mall with large expanses of greenery and an unobstructed view from end to end.
Groundbreaking for Constitution Center occurred on September 17, 2000. Exhibits are by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, which also designed exhibits for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of African American History in Detroit.
Funding came from numerous public and private sources. It includes approximately $85 million in state and federal funding along with about $15 million from the Delaware River Port Authority and the city. Area benefactors, including Sidney Kimmel, Walter and Lenore Annenberg, and Richard and Helen DeVos,also made multi-million-dollar contributions.
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