580,000 Square-Foot Money Pit

On Tuesday, December 2, the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) opened its doors to its owners – the taxpayers – for the first time.  After six years of construction and countless revisions, what seemed like a never-ending project has finally reached completion.  While the CVC provides new services for visitors and a nice view of the Capitol, it is the $621 million price tag that has been making news. 

In the 1980s, proponents of a new visitor center intended it to be a simple building to hold visitors who were waiting in line for tours.  Formal plans for the CVC began in the 1990s, with projected costs totaling $71 million.  After the 1998 shooting of two Capitol Police officers, the movement for a new visitor center intensified.  On June 20, 2000, the groundbreaking ceremony took place, but major construction did not begin until 2001. 

With increased security concerns after September 11, Congress funded an additional $100 million for design changes.  The cost estimate grew yet again in 2002, to $261 million.  While precautions to increase security were justified, members of Congress used this as an excuse to launch a string of changes and lavish upgrades to the CVC, concentrating not on security, but their own comfort and benefit.  As usual, taxpayers footed the bill.

The House of Representatives added a two story hearing room, and the Senate approved a new set of hearing rooms as wells as a television and radio studio, complete with makeup facilities.  This addition is perhaps the most egregious example of waste at the CVC, as the studio’s intended use is for senators to make television spots for broadcast in their home states.  There is no connection between televised appearances before constituents and a federally- funded visitor center, but the studio does reflect Congress’s priorities.

Due to a combination of poorly awarded contracts, repeated alterations of plans, and general mismanagement, the 580,000 square-foot structure, which was once scheduled to open in 2004, finally did so on December 2, 2008, a mere $550 million over budget.  The entryway and welcome center for visitors has ballooned into a monument to congressional excess. 

  — Sam Leverenz and Sarah Maroney