A new DC Archives building is funded!
Your advocacy over the years has paid off. Design continues.
Once again we are reaching out to you with good news. Yesterday, the DC Council filled the $30M gap in funding for the new archives facility with surplus from FY2023. Supporting a commitment by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the DC Council unanimously approved Bill 25-205, containing the appropriation. It heads to the Mayor’s desk where we expect it to be approved.
This supplementary budget appropriation adds $30M to the $69M set aside years ago to construct a new DC Archives building at the University of the District of Columbia. It ensures that the core funding now exists to build a new, purpose-built DC State Archives. FY24 will be an exciting year for construction. We should see the clearing of the site, completion of the design, and (fingers crossed) the groundbreaking.
Your support has ensured that DC’s largest and most important history collection will be saved and will soon be accessible to everyone. Thank you.
Let’s keep it going
While we are celebrating these milestones, we keep in mind that preserving DC’s history requires more than money. We will continue to advocate for appropriate (higher) funding for staffing Dr. Matthews needs to prepare the collections for the move and make resources available in the meantime. Councilmember Bonds has pledged to hold a roundtable on the Archives this summer. And both Dr. Matthews and the Council have expressed a need to revise the public records laws. We will stay active, advocating for the needs of archives users. We hope you stay engaged as well.
We anticipate the design team will file for zoning approval in early June, as case 20-33B, further processing on the 2020 UDC Campus Plan. You will be able to follow that case here. And finally, the Archives will head to the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts later this summer, beginning long processes. We will keep you posted.
For now, please review the latest design for the new facility, and submit comments to wayne.gore@dc.gov. Every comment, request, or concern is valuable to the design team. Let’s make that $30M build the best building possible.