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Read more with google mobile : Years and millions of dollars later, US Capitol visitor center opens

Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Asia Pacific World Search Search: Years and millions of dollars later, US Capitol visitor center opens AFP - 38 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Lawmakers and hundreds of onlookers packed into the US Capitol Tuesday for the inauguration of the enormous underground visitors' center, opening three years late and some 360 million dollars over budget. The United States Marine Band played the Star Spangled Banner, former US poet laureate Rita Dove read a poem about freedom and lawmakers gave speeches praising democracy and quoting famous Americans at the grand opening. But no one mentioned how the cost of the Capitol Visitor Center had ballooned during construction from the 265 million dollars budgeted in 2000 to 621 million dollars when the final piece of sandstone was laid and certificate of occupancy was issued in July this year. The budget exploded not only because of increased security needs after the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, but also because officials put in demands for office space and other facilities that are not accessible to visitors to the center. But all that appeared to be forgotten Tuesday. "You could buy one and a bit fighter jets for what it cost to build this but this is going to last longer," Donald Gibson, a Scotsman who has lived for 20 years in the United States, said as he toured the center's interactive exhibit. Senate majority leader Harry Reid hailed "an engineering feat that will stand the test of time, making this building and those who work within it safer while enriching the visitor's experience for the three million who will come here every year." Spread over three levels covering 580,000 square feet (54,000 square meters), the center, which was built underground to avoid disrupting the landscape and to enhance security, is reached by a descending stairway on the eastern side of the Capitol opposite the Supreme Court and Library of Congress. Huge skylights flood the main Emancipation Hall, which is the size of five American football fields, with light. At the far end of the hall, the original white plaster model of Thomas Crawford's bronze "Freedom" statue -- called "Lady Liberty" -- which sits atop the Capitol dome, guards the entrance to the interactive exhibit about the Capitol and Congress. The idea of building a visitor center for the Capitol has been germinating since the 1960s, when the eastern side of the US legislature was "basically a parking lot," Reid said. Back then, and until Tuesday, visitors had to wait outside the Capitol in the summer heat or winter cold to tour the US legislature. A legislative committee that was launched in 1986 to plan a visitors' center moved slowly at first but was given a sharp nudge in 1998 when two Capitol police officers were killed by a man seeking access to the building, highlighting the need for greater security. After the attacks of September 11, 2001 "work on the visitors' center assumed an urgent pace," Reid said. The new facility provides visitors with a "splendidly presented civics lesson", said James Billington, head of the Library of Congress, which is linked to the center by a tunnel -- allegedly one of the reasons that construction took so long and the budget was hugely overshot. Steven Ayers, acting architect of the Capitol, said the center -- which is free to enter -- gives visitors a "respectful and dignified way to enter the 'people's house.'" Deborah Ross, one of hundreds of first-day visitors, agreed. "It really makes you feel welcome," she said, forgiving the center's budgetary excesses. "September 11 happened and they had to change the original plan for security reasons. "But now it's here, it's beautiful, and it's for anyone who wants to come in," Ross said as a group of schoolchildren tested their knowledge of American history in a touch-screen computer quiz. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle Media exposure of children linked to obesity, tobacco use: studyAFP - 24 minutes ago Polanski requests dismissal of sex chargeAP - 35 minutes ago 'Boeing-Boeing' sets a Jan. 4 B'way closing dateAP - 54 minutes ago NBC exec: 'Meet the Press' deal close for GregoryAP - 1 hour 3 minutes ago 'Scrubs' returns with a 'friend' as its guest starAP - 1 hour 46 minutes ago Enlarge Photo Guests view a model of the US Capitol dome after the opening ceremony for the new Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC. Lawmakers and hundreds of onlookers packed into the US Capitol Tuesday for the inauguration of the enormous underground visitors' center, opening three years late and some 360 million dollars over budget. Most Popular – Entertainment Viewed Wall Street plunges as recession becomes reality World AIDS Day highlights big challenges 20 years on Love handles increase death risk: study Saudi king says 75 dollar oil price 'fair' World's oldest person dies at 115 years View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular

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