A key vote is expected this week on the proposed headquarters for the Unites States Institute of Peace, an iconic steel-and-glass structure slated for a high-profile intersection adjacent to the National Mall.
The $175 million project, pegged for a 2.5-acre U.S. Navy parking lot at 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue NW, has been in the planning stages for more than a decade. The National Capital Planning Commission is expected on Thursday to approve the conceptual design, one of the last required steps before construction can begin.
“It’s been quite a saga,” said Richard Solomon, the institute’s president. “Our substantive impact has grown and has rationalized the institute’s acquisition of this site. If we weren’t doing the work in Iraq, Korea, in the Middle East and around the world, it would be harder to justify.”
The institute, which operates an active office in Baghdad’s “green zone,” is an independent organization founded by Congress in 1984 with the goal of preventing and resolving violent international conflicts and promoting postwar stability and Democratic transitions.
It is now based at 1200 17th St. NW.
The 154,000-square-foot headquarters, designed by Moshe Safdie and Associates, features a steel frame, white translucent glass and a roof comprised of wing-like structures, as well as a public education center for roughly 400,000 annual visitors.
“We think of this building as being the war-and-peace corner of the National Mall,” Solomon said. “Our programming contrasts with all the memorials — the horrors of war and genocide.”
Congress has already provided $100 million for the project and a private capital campaign is ongoing. Construction is expected to start next spring and could take five years to complete.
“We expect to be fully engaged in the process, and one of our goals is to minimize any interruption to Constitution Avenue because it’s a critical evacuation route,” said Erik Linden, District Department of Transportation spokesman.
Institute’s impact on traffic
» Environmental assessment determined minor impact on already congested Constitution Avenue
» Temporary traffic impacts during construction, primarily from construction vehicles
» Most visitors will be pedestrians coming from the Mall
