Bonny Wolf, NPR commentator and author of the book "Talking With My Mouth Full"
@ National Harbor
Q:What's your favorite food TV show or host?
A:"I like 'Top Chef.' They're serious about food, and have personality."
Capitol Visitor Center Aims for '08 Completion
Photo of the Capitol's East Front courtesy the Architect of the Capitol
THE U.S. CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER will be completed by the fall of 2008.
Really. Seriously. Okay, maybe.
The new date comes courtesy of Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations legislative branch subcommittee. He tells The Washington Times's Andrea Benda that construction for the long overdue center — begun in 2001 and originally forecast to be completed in time for President Bush's 2005 inaugural — clearly hit some snags, but has been ushered along by the 15 hearings he held on its progress when he chaired the subcommittee from February 2005 to January 2007.
The budget for the project has also sprawled beyond expectations, ballooning from $265 million to $553 million, with a request in for another $20 million, project spokesman Thomas Fontana told the Times.
A quick glance at the Architect of the Capitol's weekly Visitor Center construction summary (this week's was posted yesterday, the Architect's site indicates) shows crews are still pretty busy. Among the tasks for the week:
» Installation of wall and floor stone in the East Front of the CapitolFor the record, the Architect's Visitor Center project information site also lists the completion date as fall 2008. So at least everybody's placing their bets on the same numbers.
» Installation of food service countertops
» Sod replacements above the Visitor Center to restore the grounds to pre-construction conditions
» Millwork and seat installation in the Congressional Auditorium
» Installation of bronze railings on stairs down to the Visitor Center complex
» "Capitol Center Aims for Fall of '08" [WT]
» Capitol Visitor Center: Project Information [Architect of the Capitol]
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