![]() As the only museum dedicated to the history of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the exhibitions highlight the impact of Congressional action on our history. Each "historical alcove" spans 35-50 years, and features videos and text from major events and how Congress shaped them. Sightseers can loiter in museum galleries dedicated to American and Congressional history. The hungry can grab a bite at a new 550-seat restaurant, catered by the same company behind the House and Senate cafeterias in the Capitol. Visitors may watch a new orientation video, "E Pluribus Unum," named for the motto found on the Seal of the United States meaning "out of many, one." The curious can get additional information about the Capitol along the room's far walls. Statues from the National Statuary Hall collection decorate the perimeter-luminaries include Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television, and King Kamehameha of Hawaii, whose gold-caped statue towers over the others. ![]() Emancipation Hall, named in honor of the enslaved laborers who helped build the original Capitol, stretches nearly 20,000 square feet underground. Now that the Visitor Center is finally open, what will visitors get?įor starters, they'll enter from the East side-the side opposite from the National Mall-and take a set of stairs into the building's underground main chamber, Emancipation Hall, which is nearly three times the size of the Capitol Rotunda. ![]() The estimated cost rose from $265 million to $621 million. But after September 11, 2001, legislators demanded greater security measures in the Visitor Center. ![]() When builders broke ground for the project in June 2000, they planned to lay the final stone in late 2005. At 580,000 square feet, the Visitor Center is the largest addition to the Capitol in its 215-year history. The new Capitol Visitor Center opens December 2, after an eight-year delay and a cost overrun of hundreds of millions. ![]()
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