Latino Museum Proposed for Mall

Latino lawmakers are backing a proposal to build a museum on the National Mall that would commemorate the achievements of American Latinos, amid concerns from preservationists that construction along the Mall is obstructing its scenic green expanse.

The proposed National Museum of the American Latino would house exhibits relating to the artistic, historical and cultural accomplishments of American Latinos.

The plan for the museum, which would be part of the Smithsonian Institution’s vast and varied collection, has been unanimously endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) is set to introduce a bill this week to create an advisory commission to plan the museum and select a location. The museum deserves to be on the Mall as a “a recognition of the American tradition of acknowledging our forefathers who helped us build this country,” Becerra said.

The National Mall, a two-mile-long stretch of parkland from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, is a popular site for public gatherings, demonstrations and leisure activities.

In recent years, however, it has become a flashpoint among Washington preservationists who say construction on the Mall is ruining the deliberately crafted open space and interfering with the public’s ability to enjoy it and reflect on its symbolism.

“The Mall is being desecrated,” said Judy Scott Feldman, president of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall. “The open space, a dedication to the people, is being filled up with concrete and stone.”

The proposal for a Latino museum, which is in its earliest stages, has not elicited protest. Feldman said she doesn’t take issue with the Latino museum, only that she doesn’t believe the mall is the place for it or for other proposed museums. The coalition had been vocal in its protest of earlier projects slated for the Mall, concerned that development would impede the serene vista.

“It’s endless, the special interest [groups] ... that want to see their imprint on the Mall, when in fact their imprint is there when they see it, when they stand in [it], when they play Frisbee, when they stroll,” Feldman said. “Everybody should see themselves on the Mall in person. [They] don’t need a monument to themselves.”

The National Museum of the American Indian and the hotly contested National World War II Memorial are under construction on the Mall. And Congress is considering legislation to build a national African American museum as well as an underground visitor center for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Jan C. Scruggs, who spearheaded the more than three-year effort to build the visitor center, said he is familiar with controversy that can ensue once the tree-lined Mall becomes a contender for a memorial.

“People have argued that I started a lot of problems when we decided to place the Vietnam memorial on the Mall,” he said. “[The Mall] is an area of great prominence for commemorating important people and important events in American culture. That’s why initially everyone starts with the idea [to build] at the Mall.”

The Senate has passed a proposal that would prohibit new memorials on the Mall; a similar measure is under consideration in the House.

The National Capital Planning Commission, which reviews plans for buildings proposed on federal property, would have to approve the Latino museum’s location and design.

“This is [the] right moment to give all Americans a chance to feel they have a complete picture of America,” Becerra said.

If approved, the bipartisan measure would create a 23-member commission whose job it would be to deliver to Congress a report written over two years detailing construction, funding and exhibits.

“I’d like people to come away [from the museum] with a genuine, comprehensive vision of what America is,” Becerra said. “I don’t see how you do that if you don’t incorporate close to 40 million [Latinos] and their predecessors who have made this country what it is today.”