WASHINGTON — One of D.C.’s most ambitious projects is underway at the Lincoln Memorial, however, the work isn’t being done above ground, but below.
Construction workers make their way around dozens of concrete pillars more than a century old to set up a 15,000-square-foot museum dedicated to the Lincoln Memorial.
Project leaders say construction is on schedule to open the museum to visitors in 2026 for the country’s 250th anniversary.
Work began to bring the $69 million project to life last year. The National Park Service invested $26 million into the project, and the rest comes from the National Park Foundation.
The plan is to convert the cavernous undercroft into a type of mini-museum, with exhibits on how the Lincoln Memorial was built, along with a bookstore and theater. The National Park Service says this project may be the most extensive of its kind since the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated back in 1922.
Additionally, the new additions are being built in such a way that if future generations want to take a different approach, they can do so without harming the original monument.
“The word that was used a lot was ‘reversible,’” explained Sam Meyernoff, senior project manager of Consigli Construction. “Could we reverse what we did if for some reason, 200 years from now, somebody wanted to bring this space back to completely what it was before we can… there’s a lot of aspects like that, they really wanted to preserve the historical fabric as much as possible in case there was ever a decision along those lines.”
Meanwhile, the National Park Service says the final goal is to showcase how the Lincoln Memorial has been used as a meeting place for history makers throughout the country’s history.
“It has assumed the importance as probably the singular place where Americans go to exercise their first amendment rights, especially with regards to civil rights,” says Mike Litterst of the National Park Service. “You think of Marian Anderson’s concert in 1939, Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in 1963, and so many other iconic civil rights movements that happened here.”