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Lincoln Memorial Redux02-24-16 | News

Lincoln Memorial Redux
Fund Repairs and Expand Exhibition Space for the Lincoln Memorial

Construction on the Lincoln Memorial began in 1914. Lincoln's only surviving son, Robert, the first of the four boys, visited the construction site and participated in the opening ceremony in May 1922. Daniel Chester French designed the 19' tall Lincoln statue, which was produced by Tuscan marble carvers, the Piccirilli brothers. Henry Bacon was the architect for the 99' tall by 202' wide monument building. The building's foundation extends down 66' to support the weight of the marble structure. The Lincoln Memorial attracts 7 million visitors a year. Visitors will continue to tour the memorial as maintenance, repairs and expansion work begins, although some areas may be temporarily closed.
*Photo: Ad Meskens, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.*

David Rubenstein, co-founder of the investment firm Carlyle Group, is donating $18.5 million to fund repairs and expand exhibition space for the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service (NPS) will ante $6 million of its own toward the revival effort for the iconic memorial on the west end of the Washington, D.C. Mall.

Rubenstein, worth a reported $2.5 billion, is among the 141 people/couples worldwide who have pledged half of their wealth to philanthropy. This is David Rubenstein's fourth gift to the NPS. He donated $7.5 million (an amount matched by the government) to repair earthquake damage to the Washington Monument; $12.35 million to restore Arlington House and the Robert E. Lee Memorial; and $5.37 million to refurbish the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial. His other philanthropy includes $10 million to George Washington's Mount Vernon home, $9 million to the National Zoo's panda habitat (which bears his name), and a "modest" $2 million to support Asian elephant research.

Mr. Rubenstein's gift will allow the NPS to repair damaged brick and marble masonry and clean the memorial; conserve the Jules Guerin murals located above the memorial's inscriptions; expand the memorial space from 750 sq. ft. to 15,000 sq. ft. to accommodate exhibits, education and research areas; and add an elevator to improve accessibility. A special project will provide visitors with a glimpse of the memorial's foundational pillars that anchor the memorial to the bedrock, and of the graffiti of the workers who built the monument in the early twentieth century.

"These improvements will hopefully enable more people to better understand and appreciate Abraham Lincoln's remarkable leadership during one of the most trying periods in American history," David Rubenstein said. "I am humbled to be a part of honoring this great man and preserving this iconic memorial for future generations."

"His act of 'patriotic philanthropy' will not only safeguard one of our most visited and recognizable memorials for future generations, but will also help preserve Lincoln's legacy to this country," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.

The National Park Foundation, the charity arm of the NPS, has just announced its Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks, a $350 million fundraising campaign to help deal with $12 billion in backlogged maintenance.