GSA and DHS Open Border Station Exhibit to Public

Feature Stories GSA and DHS Open Border Station Exhibit to Public

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Photo of Lurita Doan, GSA Administration (center) with GSA's PBS Commissioner David Winstead and Deborah Spero, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at the Border Station exhibit, Ronald reagan Building in Washington DC, August 4, 2006.

Posted August 28, 2006

A new exhibit showcasing architectural design at U.S. border stations along Canada and Mexico borders has opened at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. The exhibit is co-sponsored by GSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection and highlights 13 border stations and three Art-in-Architecture displays.

At its August 4th opening, Lurita Doan, GSA Administrator, stated "Design is absolutely critical. This is America. We do welcome people with open arms."

David Winstead, Commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service remarked that “Crossing the border between the United States and Canada or Mexico is a significant experience. It is also an event increasingly distinguished by iconic architecture.”

One of GSA’s most important obligations and responsibilities is enhancing, rebuilding, and maintaining 167 border stations. GSA and partnering architectural firms have designed sweeping overhauls that integrate advanced security and sustainable design strategies with welcoming visitors and trade. The designs reflect local history and culture in their forms, designs, colors and artwork.

The new generation of border stations illustrates the major climate and traffic disparity between the stations on Canadian and Mexican Border. The exhibition contrasts the shade and controlled movement of vehicles at Eagle Pass, Texas with extreme climate and rolling hills of Raymond, Montana. The exhibit features large border stations like Sauté Saint Marie, Michigan and a smaller station in Calexico, California.

Entitled “Thresholds along the Frontier: Contemporary U.S. Border Stations,” the traveling exhibit is on public display through October 15, 2006, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center’s Exhibition Gallery at the Oculus, located at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

For more information, contact Alicia Weber at (202) 501-1554 (alicia.weber@gsa.gov) or Tom Grooms at (202) 501-4941 (thomas.grooms@gsa.gov).