USIP Headquarters Groundbreaking
A Triumph for the Cause of Peace: Bush, Pelosi, Reid, Shultz Highlight USIP Headquarters Groundbreaking
On June 5, 2008, twenty-four years after its creation, the U.S. Institute of Peace officially broke ground for its permanent headquarters and Public Education Center (PEC) at the corner of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
That morning, President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and former Secretary of State George P. Shultz were among the bipartisan group of speakers at a groundbreaking ceremony at the building site. A host of other luminaries from the peacebuilding and foreign affairs communities were among the more than 500 people in attendance.
The Institute’s new facility will be located at the corner of 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue, NW—just north of the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—one of the country’s most historic locations. It will be a center for the study and practice of international conflict management, as well as a prominent symbol of America’s commitment to building a more peaceful world. Construction of the facility is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2010.
The headquarters facility will consist of a training center for professional conflict managers, conference space for public and private meetings, office space for USIP staff, and a 20,000 square foot Public Education Center. The PEC will use state-of-the art multimedia exhibits and hands-on exercises to highlight the challenges of contemporary international conflicts and techniques for their management by peaceful means. More than 500,000 visitors are expected to visit the PEC each year.
USIP Board Chairman J. Robinson West said, "The Institute has worked for more than a decade to obtain the site, design the building, and raise the necessary funding to begin construction. This project will not only be a great architectural statement, but also one of the country’s most important buildings in terms of its mission. It will enable us to better fulfill our Congressional mandate to educate the public about the importance of international peacebuilding and conflict resolution."
Institute President Richard H. Solomon said, "June 5 was perhaps the most remarkable day in the Institute’s history. A quarter century after our establishment by Congress, we find ourselves entering a new era in international affairs. Through the Institute's acquisition of this magnificent piece of land and Congressional support for part of the building project, the U.S. government has recognized the increasing importance of the Institute's contribution to international conflict management and peacebuilding. We are honored that the president, speaker and majority leader joined us for the groundbreaking. Such high-level, bipartisan representation underscores America’s resolve to pursue nonviolent conflict management in this new era."
Reverend Sidney Lovett, a founding board member of the Institute, opened the proceedings with, "I like to think that President Lincoln will step down from his chair over there and will, with the hallowed dead of this country’s treasure, visit the Institute in its new quarters to remind them to give everything they have to the pursuit of peace."
The Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, co-chairman of the building campaign and president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, gave closing remarks at the ceremony. "Amidst all these reliquaries of wars, we are going to commit a temple of peace." He congratulated the "very special work" of President Solomon and USIP staff over the years. "They have carried the water, and they have fought the good battle, and this day is a triumph not only for them, but for the cause of peace," he said. The memorial shows that "we are committed for peace in our times," said Hesburgh.
The effort to build a permanent headquarters for the Institute dates back to the organization’s creation in 1984. From its inception, USIP leadership believed that peacebuilding and conflict management should have a prominent presence in the public eye. By the early 1990s, planning and fundraising efforts had begun for a permanent headquarters that would serve to educate the public about nonviolent conflict resolution, but neither a site nor a design had been identified for the structure.
However, in 1996 the U.S. Congress authorized the Navy to transfer jurisdiction of a portion of its Navy Hill facility at the corner of the National Mall as the site of USIP’s permanent headquarters. As part of a 2002 USIP headquarters design competition, renowned architects Moshe Safdie & Associates submitted what ultimately became the winning design for the new building.
By 2005, Congress had authorized, and the Navy agreed to transfer, an adjacent parcel of land, including two brick structures housing the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, for the site of a professional training center in conflict management.
The project is being funded through a public-private partnership: the U.S. Congress provided the initial $100 million, and the remaining $85 million is now being raised from private sources. Congress funds 100 percent of USIP’s programmatic work on an annual basis.
