Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established on December 19, 2003, when President Bush signed into law legislation establishing the Museum as part of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the first national museum to be devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life.
The legislation directs the Smithsonian Board of Regents, the governing body of the Institution, to build the museum and provides that decisions with respect to the Museum's location and design rest with the Regents. On January 30, 2006, the Regents selected a five-acre site adjacent to the Washington Monument, bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive, and 14th and 15th streets N.W., to serve as the location for the new Museum.

The Smithsonian's next steps, in conjunction with the National Capital Planning Commission, are to prepare a National Environmental Policy Act environmental impact statement to determine important environmental concerns, and to develop historic preservation and archaeological study reports in keeping with the National Historic Preservation Act. The process, which began in September 2006, is a long and complex one that the Institution anticipates taking one-and-a-half to two years to complete. The Tier I Final EIS is now available on the NEPA/NHPA project website. For updates on this process please go to http://www.louisberger-nmaahceis.com/index.htm.

The Institution anticipates that it will begin the architectural programming phase during the mid-cycle of the environmental impact statement. The architectural programming phase provides research and decision-making on the scope of the Museum. Space and systems requirements for the major physical components of the Museum are determined in this phase—such as the size of the auditorium, exhibit space, and offices, as well as the energy usage requirements.

Once the environmental impact statement and the architectural programming are accomplished, the Institution will initiate the architectural design process—the next critical phase in the building of the Museum. At this time, it is too early for the Smithsonian to solicit bids for the programming and design phases of the new Museum. When Smithsonian does solicit bids for the architectural program, as well as the architectural design, the Institution will voluntarily follow the guidelines of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. When issuing contracts that use Federal appropriations, the Smithsonian's Office of Contracting engages in an open and competitive contracting process which is virtually identical to that found in the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

The Smithsonian will advertise nationally for architectural programming and design contracts for the Museum, using methods designed to reach the greatest number of firms. Additionally, the Smithsonian will develop outreach initiatives to attract bids from minority architectural firms.

For information on minority contracting, please visit the Smithsonian Supplier Diversity Program Web site: http://www.si.edu/oeema/index2.htm.