VVMF

January 26, 2005
For Immediate Release

Contacts: JoAnn Mangione, VVMF
202-393-0090 ext. 109 or
Bill Line, National Park Service
202-619-7177

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND SELECTS SITE
FOR MEMORIAL CENTER

National Park Service and VVMF Will Hold a Public Meeting for Citizen Review
February 22 at the American Institute of Architects

Washington, D.C. - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the National Park Service announced today the completion of a site analysis to determine the most suitable location to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center. Following a 10-month process of examining seven potential areas the study team recommends an area of land bordered by Henry Bacon Drive, Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street, NW. The selection must now be approved by the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.

On November 17, 2003, President Bush signed legislation giving the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund authorization to construct an underground visitor center at or near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to better inform and educate the public about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam War. “Today we are one step closer to preserving the memory of the men and women of the Vietnam War for generations to come,” said Jan Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. “We will respectfully and factually tell their story in a structure beholden to its place on the National Mall.”

The Memorial Fund, National Park Service and the site-study team prepared requirements for an appropriate site dictated by Congress, with objectives that would enhance the visitor experience and protect the sanctity of the Mall and the Memorial. Of the fifteen criteria used to evaluate each site, the following four were mandatory. The site must:

preserve critical views of the National Mall, without intrusion, notably:
allow the Memorial and the visitor center to be mutually supporting, increasing the other’s use by:
preserve the tranquility of the park’s special quiet spaces within the Memorial grounds
define a direct, continuous experience from the Center to the Flagpole Plaza

To help identify and evaluate a site that would meet those requirements, The Memorial Fund commissioned James Cummings, AIA, the current Architect-of-Record for the Memorial; Arnold Associates, the original Landscape Architects for the Memorial and a designer of Constitution Gardens; George Dickie, AIA ASLA, the Architect for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and a designer of Constitution Gardens; and, STV Inc, Consulting Engineers to conduct the site analysis. Their study revealed seven potential sites:

Site A: The open space in the roughly triangular land area between Henry Bacon
Drive, 23rd Street, Constitution Avenue and the Lincoln Memorial. (SELECTED)
Site B: The knoll between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Lake,
Constitution Avenue and the Reflecting Pool.
Site C: The terraced area at the east end of Constitution Lake near 17th Street.
Site D: The site of the existing US Park Police Stables.
Site E: The Department of Interior South Building, north of Constitution Avenue
at 20th Street.
Site F: The open land behind the Department of the Interior South Building on
Virginia Avenue and C Street.
Site G: The open land west of 23rd Street and south of Constitution Avenue

Site A is the only location that meets all four of the mandatory criteria, and also complies with all other site objectives. The study team also developed specific design guidelines as further assurance of Site A’s suitability.

In accordance with the law, the Memorial Fund established an Advisory Board of veterans, historians, authors, educators and scholars to consider the design of the Center and nature of the exhibits. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center will be paid for by private and corporate donations, as was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The award-winning team of Polshek Partnership Architects, LLC, and Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Inc., will design the Center.

Once constructed, the Center will be operated by the National Park Service as an element of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “The Center will provide a wonderful opportunity for the millions of visitors to this special place of healing, memory and tribute to gaining a deeper understanding of the Vietnam War and its human cost, as well as the impact of the Memorial on contemporary society,” said Vikki Keys, Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks.

PUBLIC MEETING
The National Park Service and the Memorial Fund will hold a public meeting on February 22 from 5-7 p.m. at the American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. A full explanation of the site analysis and site recommendation will be presented to the public with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and offer comments on both. For the complete site study, click here.

BACKGROUND: Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the non-profit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, through a series of outreach programs, the organization works to preserve the legacy of The Wall, to promote healing and to educate about the impact of the Vietnam War.

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