Patent Office Roof: Pending

Courtyard's Glass Canopy Delayed

When the Smithsonian Institution reopens the historic Old Patent Office Building next summer, the much-anticipated and controversial canopy over the internal courtyard will be missing.

The Smithsonian will install the glass roof in the winter of 2007, officials have confirmed. The delay happened principally because the decision to add the canopy came two years after the renovation began in 2001 and its construction is extremely complex, Smithsonian officials said. The Smithsonian also needs to raise the remaining $20 million of the estimated $50 million cost of the roof enclosure, which is being constructed with private funds.

One federal agency has even questioned the need for the enclosure, which was designed by architect Norman Foster, and an Interior Department review called it "a drastic alteration to this nationally significant historic building."

"While the Smithsonian may have the best of intentions, the project as now conceived and under construction diminishes and undermines this magnificent architectural icon and its prominent placement within the L'Enfant plan," John L. Nau III, the chairman of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small last week. The council, while recommending that the Smithsonian "abandon its plans to enclose the courtyard," acknowledged that it is probably too late to do so.

A rendering of the courtyard planned for the Old Patent Office Building.

The members of the advisory panel say the Smithsonian hasn't done enough to address their concerns and, in another letter sent to the National Capitol Planning Commission, asked that influential body to reconsider its approval of the project. The council has advisory responsibilities but cannot enforce its recommendations.

In response, Small said that the Smithsonian is going ahead with the roof enclosure, has cooperated with all the historic review processes and has considered and incorporated many of the suggestions. The enclosure received a green light from Congress in 2003.

"While we have given careful consideration to your recommendation, we cannot accept it as it fails to meet our programmatic needs for the use of the building and we disagree with your conclusion that the enclosure diminishes and undermines the Patent Office Building," wrote Small.

"We have gone through the process point by point," said Sheila Burke, the deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the Smithsonian. "We have fully participated and have been responsive. We have taken great care to treat the building with respect."

The Patent Office Building is the third oldest civic structure in Washington, after the White House and Capitol. The Greek Revival building takes up two city blocks between Seventh and Ninth streets and F and G streets NW. Built between 1836 and 1867, the structure served as a federal office building for decades. Its grand halls were used by presidents for official functions. However, in the 1950s it was earmarked for demolition and a parking lot was planned for the site. After an outcry from preservationists, the building was transferred by Congress to the Smithsonian in 1962. Since 1968 it has been the home of the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In 2000 the Smithsonian closed the museums and a year later embarked on a $216 million renovation of the structure, using both federal and private dollars. Congress has contributed $166 million for the main renovations. Burke said the total amount to be raised in private funds is $40 million to $50 million, depending on the extent of landscaping and final touches. The money would also cover a number of other enhancements beyond the renovation.

The two museums are scheduled to reopen in July 2006, and Burke said the need for more fundraising doesn't affect that schedule. "We will open on time and we don't need more money to open the building," she said.

The announcement of plans for the canopy drew considerable attention. Foster, the winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999 and the designer for the Great Court at the British Museum and the reconstruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, was chosen in March 2004. Smithsonian officials have spent considerable time with the design team and have traveled to the manufacturing plant in Germany on the private plane of Robert Kogod, who donated $25 million last November to the effort.