Posted on 04/10/2012 12:53:44 PM PDT by re_tail20
The designs are bold: a retractable theater that could seat thousands, a looping rooftop garden above a gourmet restaurant, and an underground pavilion with a cafeteria and bookstore.
Those are just some of the features that could greet visitors to "America's Front Yard" in a few years, as the designs announced Monday will move on to the final round of the Trust for the National Mall's competition to overhaul three prominent sites. It will be the Mall's first major renovation in nearly 40 years.
In 1976, an area north of the Reflecting Pool was transformed into Constitution Gardens, a quiet getaway that is now deteriorating, and an eight-member panel of experts selected by the trust will pick the designs for its facelift, along with the Washington Monument grounds surrounding the Sylvan Theater and Union Square near the U.S. Capitol.
The group plans to raise $350 million over seven years, and some of those funds will help get work started on one of the Mall projects by 2014. The trust plans to complete the projects by 2016 -- the Mall's centennial anniversary.
The trust's president, Caroline Cunningham, said cost, public input and impact of construction will all factor into its decision on which site moves forward first. The federal government must approve the final design for the Union Square project.
When the work does get started, Cunningham wants to keep visitors in mind.
"It's important to make sure the Mall [remains] open and accessible during this time," she said.
The three sites were deemed overused and neglected in a sweeping restoration blueprint developed by the National Park Service two years ago. The Trust for the National Mall began seeking architects and designers last September to improve the sites.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
The National Mall really needs a Macy’s, a Starbucks, a Cinnabon, and a Hot Dog on a Stick.
How much do I win ?
Clean the reflecting pool regularly.
Those are just a few suggestions.
Having just visited last week, I was surprised at the poor condition of the Mall. Which is surprising because everything else in DC is looking very deluxe.
The folks in Wash DC truly are sucking the heartland dry.
If you lived there or NoVa, you’d never have any idea the country is in the midst of the Baraqqi Depression.
Leave-the-mall-alone.
I wonder who the 13-year-old black kid is going to be named final designer? They always award the final design to a child, it seems.
What do I win?
Hitler and his architect’s were also deigning something similar for Berlin.
“Without thinking too hard on the results; the “Designer” will be a black person, a TOWERING statue of The Messiah will be included, and African and Muslim culture will be prominently displayed.....
What do I win?”
Nothing. It is going to be the most ugliest piece of crap ever to erected and the reason is simple. It is part of the Communist Doctrine. As soon as the design is submitted, based on how ugly it looks, we will know then for sure that Obama is a Communist.
NO leave the mall as it is.Fix what needs fixed but no additions needed.
They wanna make The Mall a mall.
A place to hold the Hunger Games?
A place to hold the Hunger Games?
The country is suffering and DC is remodeling.
Since whatever is undertaken will be unsound in design, execution and durability, why not take the honest approach and build a giant cement toilet overflowing with water and a plaque reading: “Since we left America without a Pot to Piss In, Here’s One you can look at.”
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