Gehry's Ike Memorial Scrapped?

In 2009 Frank Gehry was selected to design the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial on a 4-acre site near the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Construction of the $142 million design did not start as planned last August, so Representative Rob Bishop (R) of Utah has introduced legislation that would scrap the original competition and cut nearly $100 million in funding to build the memorial. A Congressional hearing on March 19 addressed Bishop’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Completion Act, with testimony from Bishop and other Republicans opposed to Gehry's design. The most vocal detractors continue to be members of the Eisenhower family and the nonprofit National Civic Art Society.

Those in favor of Gehry's design include Democratic Representative Rush D. Holt, Jr., of New Jersey, and the American Institute of Architects. AIA Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Ivy issued a statement opposing the Act: "Representative Bishop’s legislation allows Congress to exercise governmental authority in a wholly arbitrary manner that negates the stated selection process. It is nothing more than an effort to intimidate the innovative thinking for which our profession is recognized at home and around the globe."

The Committee on Natural Resources will consider the testimonies both for and against the bill's goal "to facilitate the completion of an appropriate national memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower" before possibly sending it to the House of Representatives and Senate.