Wednesday, September 26, 2007; B04

CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER

The price tag for the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center has gone up again, according to testimony at a congressional hearing yesterday.

Stephen T. Ayers, acting architect of the Capitol, told the House subcommittee on the legislative branch that the new price for the sprawling underground structure on the east side of the Capitol is $621 million.

The visitors center has been delayed for years by post-Sept. 11, 2001, security concerns and congressional add-ons. Cost estimates in the spring put the center's price at about $600 million. The center, originally expected to cost about $265 million, is set to open late next year.

-- Michael E. Ruane

The Vatican's representative to the United States and the archbishop of Washington are among the dignitaries scheduled to speak at the dedication tonight of the new headquarters of the Catholic archdiocese for the military.

Speakers will include Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services and archbishop-designate of Baltimore; and Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl. The ceremony is at 6 p.m. at the military archdiocese, 1025 Michigan Ave. NE.

-- Michelle Boorstein

D.C. police identified the victim of a fatal shooting Monday night as Capitol Heights resident George Hill.

Hill, 30, was found about 9 p.m. at 45th and Quarles streets NE, police said. Hill, of the 1300 block of Cougar Lane, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

-- Allison Klein