Smithsonian Scraps Plan to Reopen Its Original Home

The Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building, which was shuttered in 2004 due to structural problems, will not reopen as planned this year, despite $55-million worth of maintenance and renovation, according to The Washington Post.

The 133-year-old building on the National Mall that served as the Smithsonian’s first home needs an additional $21-million in work before it can again open to the public. Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough said in a memo to staffers that the organization is prioritizing other projects in its budget request to Congress, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture slated to open late next year.

Advocates for a Smithsonian-run national Latino museum are pushing a congressional bill that would designate the Arts and Industries Building as a site for the institution, but the 40,000-square-foot structure would probably need underground renovations to serve as a museum, according to the Post.