Designing a New Mall

Have some thoughts about the finalists chosen for the National Mall Design Competition? Well, the Trust for the National Mall wants to hear from you by Monday, April 16.

As the official non-profit partner for the National Mall, the Trust launched the Design Competition last September for three key areas on the Mall—the Washington Monument Grounds at the Sylvan Theater, Constitution Gardens and Union Square (the area around and including the Capitol Reflecting Pool). The goal is to select a design team that will develop the most beautiful, useful and sustainable design for each of the three sites.

Now that a jury has picked four finalists for each location, your input is needed. The designs are now posted online, where you can leave your comments. You also can see the designs in person at two Smithsonian locations: the Smithsonian Castle (for the Union Square concepts) and the National Museum of American History (for the Sylvan Theater and Constitution Gardens concepts).

Once the winning teams are selected and the projects proceed into the design phase, an Environmental Assessment will be prepared for Sylvan Theater and Constitution Gardens, both under the National Park Service’s (NPS) jurisdiction. At that time, you will be able to provide additional comments. (Congress placed Union Square under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol for security reasons.)

The Trust will work with each of the winning design teams to construct at least one project by 2016, the NPS’ centennial anniversary.

The Mall, America’s most visited national park, is in dire need of a makeover. The 700-acre park receives more than 25 million visitors and hosts 3,000 permitted events annually. The Design Competition criteria were based on the approved National Mall Plan, which took four years to refine and modify and included public, consulting agency and professional comments—including substantial input from the DowntownDC BID.