DC Center Projects New Spin on American History
Legislative Role Is Emphasized in New US Capitol Visitor Center
Feb 22, 2009 Howard Bryan Bonham
The formal opening of the Visitor Center on Dec. 2 drew "ooh's and "ahs," from most early viewers; and, indeed the mammoth showplace of the US House and Senate is stunning, but the real story is its content.
Almost subliminally, the presentations shift the visitor's attention from the traditional focus on the Founding Fathers and other selected leaders and events to a 200-year storyline suggesting many equally significant persons, events and documents have shaped America's greatness also. There is the subtle (maybe not so subtle) hint that the Congress--the "people's house"--is due for a lot more credit in explaining the rise of America.
US Capitol Is Home to the House and Senate
The presence of a place where visitors can take in the full pageant of America's noteworthy events and people has long been overdue, suggested Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NEV) at the official opening, as reported by Lynn Pritchett in "Capitol Visitor Center Is for the People," appearing Dec. 9 in the SUITE101.COM online magazine.
Befitting its mighty message, the site is breath-takingly huge, and spread over two immense levels of airy exhibit spaces. With ". . . soaring spaces and skylight views of the Capitol dome, the Visitor Center welcomes you on a journey of discovery," is the way the Senate Web site expresses Capitol Hill's newest complex at http://www.senate.gov/index.htm.
The exhibits feature memorabilia of America's march from a British colony of political rebels to a world superpower. All this glory resides underground, tucked away in 580,000 square feet of presentations on two upper levels and service tunnels and maintenance niches in the basement. Sandstone walls are topped with a granite roof; while inside amenities like fountains and rose marble benches add dash.
Visitors Can Expect Historical, Aesthetic and Culinary Treats
Besides a panorama of America's political heritage, the extravaganza is replete with gift shops, orientation theaters--where visitors start and end a tour--Senate and House staging areas, a 450-seat auditorium, TV screens with live feeds from Congress, and a 550-table cafeteria with multi-culture food menus. The first and largest exposition area, Emancipation Hall, will hold 4,000 roving visitors.
Sky-lighted ceilings allow people to look up and westward at the dome of the Capitol, which hovers like a giant umbrella protecting freedom. Light of day streams into the Center's mammoth interiors, hinting at an allegorical connection with the "noble experiment" of the Founding Fathers, in creating the first modern democracy. On sunny days, the rays refract onto the floor as tiny rainbow strips, celebratory, but as quiet and dignified as a hero's flag-draped coffin?
US Capitol Retains Eminence
Because the structure is underground, the approaching visitor's attention never wavers from the magnificent Capitol dome. Rather, instead of adding another monolithic eyeful to the "Hill," the planners kept the Capitol grounds sacrosanct by burying the Center beneath the east side or back of the Capitol. Visitors enter the Capitol from the Center's upper level, passing close to the office doors of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House.
Guides enrich visitors, with historical facts and bromides from the great American drama. Afterward, pilgrims can traverse a tunnel to the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world and the oldest federal cultural institution, or return to the Visitors Center for more kaleidoscopic Americana.
Conservative Critics Carp about Message
The Visitor Center has its detractors, however. Barbs are based mostly on charges the cost overruns made the project a boondoggle and a monument to waste, with the liberal political slants presented also coming in for a scolding. In addition, the religious heritage that built America is conspicuously missing, they say.
Ann Coulter, the diva of the conservative right wing, would not be a happy camper hiking through Exhibition Hall; for there, a smorgasbord of documents extolling environment, public health, public education, civil rights and other Congressional pet issues over the years are interspersed with the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution.
The Architect of the Capitol promises egregious oversights will be corrected. Nevertheless, in rain, shine, sleet or cold, the new Center represents a comfortable venue for visitors to gather themselves for a mind-blowing new view of American history.
Statue of Freedom Welcomes Visitors.
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Crowd checking out Emancipation Hall.
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