Chamber Underneath the Lincoln Memorial Opened for the First Time in 100 Years
The newly opened 15,000-square-foot chamber beneath the lincoln Memorial, which had been closed for nearly a century, offers visitors interactive exhibits, historic construction tools, and preserved vandalism. Notable artifacts include original copies of key documents signed by Abraham Lincoln. Funded with $26 million in federal funds and $48 million from the National Park foundation,construction began in 2023 and aims to highlight the memorial’s evolution into a vital symbol of American civic life. This unveiling follows recent renovations, such as improvements to the Reflecting Pool, and aligns with efforts to enhance the memorial’s historical and cultural significance.
The Lincoln Memorial’s hidden 15,000-square-foot chamber opens to the public Thursday after a century-long closure.
The chamber — located beneath the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall — had sat vacant since the 1920s akin to a “two-story shopping mall” with 122 giant concrete pillars, according to Fox News.
The memorial’s undercroft features interactive exhibits, construction tools left in 1920, and preserved vandalism from the original construction, the outlet reported.
Among the artifacts in the undercroft exhibit are original copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment bearing President Abraham Lincoln’s signature, according to Fox News. The new construction project was funded with $26 million of federal money and $48 million from the National Park Foundation.
Construction on the project began in 2023, according to Julie Moore, vice president of communication with the Trust for the National Mall.
“Beyond its physical foundations, the undercroft tells the story of how the Lincoln Memorial evolved into America’s ‘civic stage,’” Moore told Fox News.
The opening of the undercroft follows President Donald Trump’s sweeping renovations to the memorial’s iconic Reflecting Pool and the ensuing peeling paint and pro-algae protests.
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