Entertainment01 September, 20263 min read
Smithsonian Board Of Regents Approves Arts And Industries Building For National Museum Of The American Latino
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Board designates Arts and Industries Building as home of National Museum of the American Latino. Converts the building, enabling bypass of new congressional approval for the site.
Permanent Latino Museum Site
The Smithsonian Institution approved the conversion of the Arts and Industries Building into the National Museum of the American Latino, a decision that will let the project bypass congressional approval for a new site.
Reuters said the Smithsonian Board of Regents designated the Arts and Industries Building as the permanent site, and the board voted to house the museum in the Smithsonian-owned building rather than building on a National Park Service-owned site that would require approval from Congress.
The New York Times reported the Board of Regents placed the museum in the Arts and Industries Building, a 19th-century structure on the National Mall in Washington, and said the board vote set the building as the “permanent site” and “concludes the site-selection process.”
Jorge Zamanillo, director of the National Museum of the American Latino, said in a statement, “Today marks a major milestone in a dream and effort of decades in the making,” and added that the location places “the U.S. Latino story at the heart of the National Mall and the American story.”
Politics, Budget, and Pushback
The decision came as the Smithsonian has been criticized by the Trump administration, with Reuters saying the Trump administration has repeatedly attacked the Smithsonian and that this year’s executive budget stripped out funding for a Latino museum. Reuters reported the budget removed funding in favor of creating a decentralized Smithsonian Latino Center that would present exhibitions across some museums, and The New York Times said the move happened at a time when the Smithsonian has been criticized by the Trump administration.
City Cast DC said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch wrote in an all-staff email that the Board of Regents vote was “a major milestone in a vision that has been decades in the making,” and it also said the unopened museum has come under fire from conservatives who claim it is an activist project. The Times of India described the Arts and Industries Building as the second-oldest Smithsonian complex building and said structural problems forced it to close completely in 2004, before a $55 million restoration later strengthened the roof and exterior to allow temporary exhibitions and special events to return.
Cost, Timeline, and Next Steps
The Times of India said the board’s 31 August statement ended a long debate over the museum’s location and removed the need for Congress to approve a new site because the Smithsonian already owns the building. Reuters reported that upgrading the interior, adding climate control and expanding exhibition areas could cost about $1 billion, and it said the project’s fundraising for the retrofit remains a hurdle.
The New York Times said the Smithsonian will locate the museum in its Arts and Industries Building rather than build on a site owned by the National Park Service, and it described the board’s vote as concluding the site-selection process. Jorge Zamanillo said in connection with the Molina Family Latino Gallery that “It will take 10 to 12 years to open a museum building, but the gallery gives the public a preview of the museum’s potential,” and The Times of India said the gallery was created to host temporary exhibitions for up to 10 years while plans for a permanent museum were developed.