Why we need to build a new Newseum
Commentary
By Charles L. Overby
Chairman and CEO, The Freedom Forum
06.15.00
The decision to build a new Newseum in downtown Washington, D.C. — just three years after the original one opened in Arlington, Va. — surprises even the senior management of The Freedom Forum.
Nobody expected the Newseum to succeed in visitor appeal the way it has. Nearly 1.5 million people have toured the Newseum since it opened in 1997.
A year ago, we began to brainstorm how to increase the future impact of the Newseum. We came to a simple but bold conclusion: relocate the Newseum across the Potomac River to Washington, somewhere in the middle of the enormous visitor traffic.
The Arlington site has been good, but every visitor essentially had to plan to visit the Newseum in advance. In addition, we had run out of room for more visitors and more special exhibits. Two years ago, we thought we were going to have the opportunity to expand at our current site, but no new space opened up.
So we began to look elsewhere. We considered New York City, a new site in Northern Virginia or Washington.
Lois Zambo, a dynamic commercial real estate executive who found our current site, led a team from Julien J. Studley and identified 20 possible sites in the District of Columbia. We toured about six sites, including one on 14th Street adjacent to the popular Holocaust Museum. We also toured the Old Post Office Pavilion on 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. But both those buildings are historical structures that can-not be changed.
We narrowed our choice in the District to two: the old Woodward and Lothrop building at 11th and F streets, and the Department of Employment Services building at Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street.
The Woodies building was attractive in terms of its accessibility to the Metro. All of the Metro lines feed directly into the Woodies building. But it was still off the beaten path for visitors on foot.
The Pennsylvania Avenue site was perfect. It was close to the Mall, directly across the street from the National Gallery of Art, ideally positioned between the Capitol and the White House on an avenue famous around the world. Moreover, the existing building could be torn down, and we could design our new Newseum from scratch.
We didn't even get to do that in our existing facility in Arlington. We shoehorned the Newseum into an existing office building.
So we have committed $100 million to buy the Pennsylvania Avenue site because we can build a spectacular, state-of-the-art museum that will educate more than 1 million visitors a year about the importance of a free press and the First Amendment.
This will give the public a tangible, easily identifiable place to examine the Fourth Estate.
Newseum II is still a dream, not a reality. Mayor Anthony Williams has responded positively to our offer and has pledged to "move heaven and earth" to perform the due diligence necessary to assess the offer. District, federal and community leaders have been very supportive.
If all goes well, Washington will have a major new tourist attraction in three or four years. And the First Amendment and a free press will have an enduring center that teaches and entertains.
The Freedom Forum lost a special friend last month with the death of Robert G. McCullough, counsel and secretary for The Freedom Forum, the First Amendment Center and the Newseum.
His good judgment, integrity and legal skills helped us grow throughout the 1990s.
He worked well with all kinds of people. He took time to talk to people at all levels. He could — and did — converse comfortably in the Oval Office or at the desk of a secretary.
He had virtually no ego and was happy to do his work behind the scenes so others could shine in the public.
We'll miss Bob, but we won't forget him.