Visitor Center for Vietnam Memorial
Proposal for underground center elicits mixed reactions
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund plans to build an underground visitor center on the National Mall to engage and educate the millions of people who experience the memorial each year.
The proposed 8,000-square-foot center would be located just west of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Plans call for a three-dimensional battle scene, rotating exhibits, and a movie theater—to name a few attractions. Mementos left behind at the memorial, from American flags and clothing to letters and poems, would be displayed; these are now stored in the Museum Resource Center in Maryland.
Central to the proposal is the need to educate visitors on the causes of the war, as well as the overall historical context—most important for younger visitors, said Fund President Jan C. Scruggs.
"The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is now older than many of the people we are trying to reach out to, who may not learn about the war in school," he said.
A previous plan for a much smaller, above-ground center was scrapped after critics—including a National Park Service official—said it would add clutter to the Mall. The underground plan was developed as a compromise but has also drawn criticism. NPCA urged Congress to consider approving a visitor center location elsewhere, fearing that both the Mall's open vistas and the power of existing memorials would suffer from a rash of new structures.
"It's a fine idea to interpret the memorials and monuments on the Mall, but it would be a better idea to use an existing structure nearby to do that collectively," said Joy Oakes, NPCA's Mid-Atlantic regional director.
"Part of the power of the monuments lies in not having to compete with structures right next to them at the Mall."
Scruggs said the current plan "makes the best sense for giving visitors the experience they need, the context to understand the memorial, without taking up any space on the Mall."
Elevators and escalators would transport visitors to the lower level of the center, which would hold about 350 people. The memorial draws about 4 million visitors a year.
The legislation for the visitor center was introduced last February. Scruggs said he is optimistic that it will pass through Congress. Private funds have been raised for the $5 million to $6 million center, which, once approved, could be built in about ten months.
National Park Service Director Fran Mainella recently expressed her support for the underground facility.
Though no extraordinary engineering issues exist for building under the Mall, engineers told Scruggs that the proposed area is beneath a flood plain; they recommended the facility be waterproofed.
Surveys conducted by the Veterans Memorial Fund revealed that younger respondents, ages 18 to 24, were more likely to have visited the memorial than adults over 30.
"These younger people, especially, need to understand at least the basic, rudimentary facts of the war," he said, "like why it happened, how long it lasted, and the essential message of service to our country and patriotism. This is the visitor center's purpose."
