The US Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has approved Frank Gehry's revised design for the Eisenhower Memorial in Washington DC, meaning that after a fifteen-year process, all the involved parties have finally agreed on a design. Gehry's most recent design - a slightly scaled-down version of the one he produced in 2011, with the two smaller woven steel tapestries removed to open up the view to the Capitol - was approved by the National Capitol Planning Commission (NCPC) earlier this month, allowing the CFA to give their final verdict on the new design.
Though the design is now set, the project is not entirely in the clear: Congress must still approve funding for the memorial, now estimated at $140 million. The Eisenhower Memorial Commission has already received $63 million, however the Washington Post reports it has spent $25 million during the design phase, and with less than $500,000 in donations, it has fallen significantly short of raising the $35 it believed it could generate from other sources.
The Washington Business Journal reports that "Congress has balked at committing additional funds to the project because of the design controversy, but that could change now that the revised design has received all of its preliminary approvals." Assuming that Congress does approve funding for the memorial, the Eisenhower Memorial Commission is planning to break ground in 2015.
Story via the Washington Post and the Washington Business Journal
