The Memorials and Museums Master Plan responds to the ongoing need of future generations to locate memorials and museums in Washington, DC and its environs. Prepared by NCPC and its partners, the plan identifies 100 potential locations for memorials and museums and provides general guidelines for their development. The plan is an important tool in guiding site selection for new commemorative works and museums.
The Victims of Communism Memorial is located off the National Mall on Massachusetts Avenue, NW, near Union Station.
The plan recommends 80 candidate and 20 prime candidate sites for future memorials.
The U.S. Air Force Memorial is located on one of the plan’s prime candidate sites in Arlington, Virginia near the Pentagon.
Congressional legislation in 2003 expanded the Reserve. No new memorials are permitted in the Reserve, and new memorials of preeminent historic and national significance may be permitted in Area 1.
Background and Context
The memorials and museums in Washington's monumental core symbolize the city and the nation. However, as the demand for new ones continues, the National Mall has become overcrowded, eliminating available open space within its historic landscape. To protect the National Mall and existing commemorative settings, the Memorials and Museums Master Plan (2M Plan) expands on the Legacy Plan's ideas that call for distributing new memorials and museums into all four city quadrants.
The 2M Plan identifies, describes, and evaluates 100 of the most suitable sites that sponsors could use when examining potential locations for future commemorative works and museums. It proposed a commemorative zone policy for siting them, including an area where no new memorials could be located. Congress enacted this policy in 2003 by approving an expanded Reserve that designated a no-build area on the central cross-axis of the Mall. In 2006 NCPC amended the original plan to reflect this legislation by removing four sites from the 100 eligible locations for future commemorative works. The plan also inventoried existing memorials and museums, and forecasted future demand for new museums and memorials.
Key Information
- Prepared by:
National Capital Planning Commission
U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission - Published: 2001
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Current
Memorial and museum sponsors, and federal agencies, use the plan to guide site selection for new memorials. To date, the plan guided six commemorative works to sites beyond the National Mall:
- Thomas Masaryk Memorial (dedicated 2005)
- U.S. Air Force Memorial (dedicated 2006)
- Victims of Communism Memorial (dedicated 2007)
- American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial (dedicated 2014)
- Memorial to Victims of Ukrainian Manmade Famine (dedicated 2015)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial (dedicated 2020)
The Monumental Core Framework Plan (2009) proposes strategies to improve the setting to enhance the desirability of many 2M sites for future commemorative and museum uses. NCPC's commemorative works planning continued with the Memorials Trends and Practices Report (2012) which analyzed the impacts of commemoration programming and space needs in recent proposals. The Comprehensive Plan's Federal Elements (2016) reflects policy guidance found in the plan. Ideas for temporary, ephemeral, and non-traditional commemoration proposals were explored in the Memorials for the Future ideas competition (2016).
Plan Chapters
A Call to Action
Introduces the need to identify and promote new memorial and museum sites outside of Washington's monumental core.
The Framework
Establishes and illustrates an organizational hierarchy for identifying and evaluating future commemorative sites.
Site Selection
Lists and describes potential future memorial and museum sites in Washington and its environs.
From Plan to Action
How to make the plan a reality.
Candidate Sites
Evaluation of 20 prime candidate and 80 candidate prospective memorial and museum locations.
Appendices
Identifies steps for establishing a memorial in the nation's capital, and the master plan project team.
