The National Parks Service announced Monday it is awarding a contract for $69 million to construct a 15,000 square-foot museum underneath the Lincoln Memorial with construction beginning next month.
"The undercroft of the Lincoln Memorial, long hidden from public view, offers a fascinating setting to learn more about America's 16th president and the memorial that honors him," Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, wrote in a press release Monday. "Thanks to the National Park Foundation and its generous donors, visitors will be able to view this dramatic architectural feature, learn about how the memorial was built and how its meaning has evolved over the last century."
According to the agency, the 15,000 square-feet will exhibit "a more complete story" about the memorial and its original construction history through the use of multimedia presentations, as well as the importance of the monument in the Civil Rights movement.
The foundation for the iconic memorial was started Feb. 12, 1914, and consisted of 122 solid concrete piers with steel reinforcing rods anchored in bedrock.
When the foundation was finished in May 1915, landscaping work continued on the circular mound surrounding the structure, according to the organization.
Construction slowed due to labor and material shortages after the United States entered World War I in 1917, and the statue of Lincoln's size was doubled in 1918 due to concerns it would be "lost" inside the massive monument.
Lincoln's statue was completed between December 1919 and January 1920, according to the agency, and the walkways and roadways, as well as trees and shrubberies, were finished off through 1920.
The reflecting pool between it and the Washington Monument were completed by the time it was dedicated May 30, 1922.
The new Museum is expected to take until 2026 to complete, coinciding with America's 250th anniversary, Monday's release said.
A public-private partnership, the project was first announced in 2016 with an $18.5 million donation from businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein, with the National Park Foundation contributing another $43 million.
"For more than a century, the Lincoln Memorial has been the crucible of American democracy, an enduring platform for free speech, the site of civil protests that still shape society, and the scene of national celebrations," Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation, wrote in the release. "Thanks to generous donors, the National Park Service will ensure the Lincoln Memorial continues to make history for another 100 years."
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