Smithsonian Identifies Two Optimal Sites for New Museums

The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents has narrowed its focus to two potential sites for the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. They are considered the two optimal sites with the greatest potential based on site-selection evaluative criteria combined with stakeholder input. 

The two optimal sites are: 

• South Monument site—undeveloped land across the National Mall from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, on Jefferson Drive S.W., under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service
• Tidal Basin site—undeveloped land bordered by Raoul Wallenberg Place S.W., Maine Avenue S.W. and Independence Avenue S.W., under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service

Legislative action is necessary before the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents can make its final designations. 

Congress authorized the museums in December 2020. Since the enactment of the legislation, the Smithsonian, with the assistance of the engineering/architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore, has undertaken an extensive site-selection analysis and thorough review of more than 25 sites. The legislation states that the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents must designate the two new museum sites by the end of 2022. 

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SI-345-2022