Capitol Local News

The visitor experience is an intellectual and emotional encounter made of highly personal moments that inform, involve, and inspire individuals who come to view the United States Capitol. These experiences are unique to each individual who visits the Capitol.

The United States Capitol is not only a historical site but also a functioning office structure. It is widely regarded as one of the most iconic representations of representative democracy in the entire globe.

The Capitol Visitor Center, which can be found underground on the east side of the Capitol, is where guests who are touring the building should go to enter.
The United States Capitol Visitor Center places a greater emphasis on the comfort, safety, and security of visitors, which ultimately results in a streamlined, enjoyable experience for those who come to see the United States Capitol.

The Exhibition Hall, the Gift Shops, and the Restaurant are all excellent places for guests to start their tour of the Capitol when they first arrive at the Visitor Center.
In addition to the standard tour of the Capitol Building, visitors can take participate in a variety of unique tours and activities while they are there. The Capitol Visitor Center is the starting point for tours of the Capitol for any guest who wishes to visit.

The United States Capitol Visitor Center is the most recent structure to be added to the historic Capitol Complex. The Visitor Center is the largest undertaking in the more than two-hundred-year history of the Capitol, and it is roughly three-quarters the size of the Capitol building itself. The Visitor Center is nearly 580,000 square feet in size.

The entirety of the facility is buried beneath the earth on the east side of the Capitol so as not to detract from the beauty of the building or the grounds that were laid out in 1874 by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Since it first opened its doors on December 2, 2008, on the occasion of the anniversary of the installation of the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Dome in 1863, the Capitol Visitor Center has been used by millions of people on their tours of the Capitol.

The Capitol Visitor Center was designed from the beginning to function as an extension of the Capitol building itself. The colors, textures, and materials found throughout the historic structure served as inspiration for the construction of the Visitor Center, and the materials used in its construction were carefully chosen to reflect those elements.

This care is evident in Emancipation Hall, which was named to memorialize the contributions of the enslaved laborers who helped build the United States Capitol. Emancipation Hall is the primary gathering spot for tourists who are in town to see the Capitol.

Sandstone slabs with a range of colors and textures, comparable to the sandstone that can be seen in the Capitol, line the walls and columns of Emancipation Hall, which rises to a height of 36 feet above the floor. Additionally, visitors to Emancipation Hall will have the opportunity to view the plaster model of the Statue of Freedom, as well as 18 statues that have been donated to the National Statuary Hall Collection and the POW/MIA Chair of Honor.

Visitors will begin their tours of the Capitol by watching a film in one of the two orientation theaters located in the Capitol Visitor Center. The film is approximately 13 minutes long and serves to familiarize visitors with the Capitol as well as provide an overview of how the government in the United States was initially established.
In addition, the Exhibition Hall contains two intimate cinemas where guests can see live broadcasts of the proceedings taking place in the House and Senate chambers.

The Exhibition Hall is 16,500 square feet in size. It is here that guests can explore the only exhibition in the world that is dedicated to recounting the story of Congress and the United States Capitol.

An 11-foot-tall touchable model of the Capitol dome is one of the highlights of the exhibit, along with historical papers from the National Archives and the Library of Congress that are rarely viewed by the public. Artifacts from all throughout the country are also on display.

Within the Capitol Visitor Center is a restaurant that has 530 seats and serves a range of soups, salads, entrees, and other foods. Some of the things on the menu i

After the publication of the report titled “Toward a Master Plan for the United States Capitol” by the Architect of the Capitol in the middle of the 1970s, the concept of a Capitol Visitor Center began to take shape in people’s minds.

The report that was completed in 1995 needed to be revisited and revalidated because of the shifting security requirements, which were brought to light by the senseless murder of two Capitol police officers in 1998, as well as other safety and accessibility concerns.

The United States Capitol Preservation Commission was given the most recent version of the proposal in October of 1999.
The Capitol Preservation Commission made several decisions that resulted in the beginning of pre-construction operations back in the fall of 2001.

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 compelled significant design modifications and compelled Congress to approve the required financing in order to carry the project forward into the construction phase.

The beginning of the actual construction was in 2002. By the fall of 2003, the excavation was more or less finished, and work on constructing the structure had begun.
The first occupants of the building moved in during the month of July 2008, and on December 2, 2008, the structure was officially dedicated and opened to the general public.

The excavation that was done for the Capitol Visitor Center required the removal of 65,000 truckloads of earth, which is equivalent to 650,000 cubic yards of material. Additionally, workers had to lay more than 400,000 pieces of stone, some of which weighed as much as 500 pounds. The stone that was used for the Visitor Center was chosen because of how closely it matched the existing hues and textures of the stone that was utilized throughout the Capitol.

Nearly 200,000 square feet of the interior walls and columns of the Visitor Center are covered in sandstone, the same material that was used extensively in the construction of the first Capitol building.

Within the limits of its one-of-a-kind needs, the Capitol Visitor Center was developed with the intention of incorporating an extensive number of environmentally friendly and low-impact features.

The Center was constructed underneath an existing parking lot, and although it is considered a “redevelopment” of an urban site, it has not increased the total quantity of hard surfaces that contribute to runoff. Now that the landscaping has been finished, the East Capitol Grounds are more green than they were before. A total of 85 new trees have been planted (more than were removed for construction), in order to revive the scenic views that were envisioned in Frederick Law Olmsted’s original landscape plan from 1874.

In addition, cutting-edge, high-efficiency fans and motors were employed in the mechanical systems, and when the outside temperature is below sixty degrees Fahrenheit, the cooling system uses air from the outside rather than chilled water. Occupancy sensors for light fixtures have been installed in every single office space and restroom, and when it is feasible, small fluorescent light fixtures are employed in their place.

Other features include low-flow bathroom fixtures and automatic faucets and toilets; low-emitting materials including paints, solvents, and carpets were used during construction; recycling of 50 percent of construction waste; and six skylights that allow natural light to fill many public areas, thereby decreasing the need for electric lighting during daytime hours.

The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the meeting place of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C