Page 97 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

PENN QU AR TER  95

the outside and modern on the
inside. Completed in 1997, it
was the most expensive federal
building project ever under-
taken. Designed by Pei Cobb
Freed & Partners, architects of
the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum (see pp82–3)
and the National Gallery of Art’s
East Wing, the building houses
a mix of federal, trade, and
public spaces. It is named after
President Ronald Reagan, who
authorized the construc tion in
The multistory building housing the Newseum the late 1980s.
On the east end of the
plan of revitalization. Today, who have lost their lives in the atrium is the largest
Pennsylvania Avenue is a clean, line of duty. On the front of neon sculpture
tree-lined street. Green parks, the building is an inscription in North
poignant memorials, bustling of the First Amendment America –
shops, theaters, hotels, museums, listing the five “Route Zenith,”
and assorted government build- freedoms – a creation of
ings border the street on either religion, Keith Sonnier.
side, providing a suitably grand speech, press, Outside the
and formal setting for all future assembly, Sculpture from the Oscar Straus building is
presidential inaugural parades. and petition. Memorial Fountain the Oscar
Straus Memorial
5 Newseum 6 Ronald Reagan Fountain, with sculpture by
Adolph Alexander Weinman.
555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW. Map 4 D4. Building In summer the four-acre
Tel (202) 292-6100. q Archives-Navy 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW. Map 3 Woodrow Wilson Plaza, graced
Memorial. Open 9am–5pm daily. B3. Tel (202) 312-1300. q Federal by sculptures by such artists
Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. Triangle. Open 5am–2am daily. as Martin Puryear and Stephen
& 7 = 0 ∑ newseum.org Closed Federal hols. 8 11am Mon, Rodin, is the venue for free
Wed & Fri from 14th St entrance (to concerts from noon to 1:30pm
This award-winning inter active book ahead call 312-1647). Visitor every weekday.
news and media museum is Center: Tel 289-8317. 0 = 7 The Ronald Reagan Building
housed in a beautiful building ∑ itcdc.com houses a large food court of
with a balcony that affords quality fast food, including
splendid views of the city. The The Ronald Reagan Building Japanese, Middle Eastern,
Newseum features seven levels, is a modern 3.1 million sq ft Mexican, and classic American
14 galleries, and 15 theaters that (280,000 sq m) limestone struc- deli and sandwich shops. There
explore how and why news is ture that appears Classical on are also plenty of coffee shops.
made. The galleries span five
centuries of news history and
include up-to-the-second
technology and hands-on
exhibits. The gallery of Pulitzer
Prize-winning photographs is
one of the highlights. Among
the iconic images on display
are the 1945 photograph
documenting the raising of the
US flag after the Battle of Iwo
Jima and a 1969 photograph
portraying the execution of a
prisoner in Saigon, Vietnam.
Other galleries deal with the
history of the Berlin Wall and
the events of 9/11. There is
also an interactive newsroom
where visitors can play the role
of a reporter or broadcaster, and
a moving memorial to journalists Mock-Classical entrance to the immense Ronald Reagan Building

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