Watch a livestream of the ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Friday.
More than 10,000 people pass through the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on its busiest days, but the vast majority likely have no idea the 9/11 attacks had a major role in getting it built.
Plans for the visitor center had started years before that fateful day, but they languished for close to a decade.
But when it was learned that United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked with the apparent intent of being flown into the U.S. Capitol, everything changed.
The jetliner could have potentially crashed into the Capitol dome, had it not been for the heroic actions of people on board the plane who stormed the cockpit, causing the plane to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
After 9/11, Congress moved quickly to appropriate funding for the visitor center so that construction could begin in 2002. As part of a larger emergency package, the original cost was set at $368 million.
But because of 9/11, major changes were made to upgrade security related to the center. The threat of terrorism led to a much more fortified facility, with a robust security checkpoint that visitors continue to use today. It is underground on the east front of the Capitol and visitors frequently ask U.S. Capitol Police officers where they need to go to get to the visitor center.
Creating the visitor center was a massive undertaking and overseen by the architect of the Capitol. The cost of the project continued to rise, as congressional committees kept a close eye on progress.
Ultimately, the cost rose to $621 million, and the center took years longer than originally anticipated to be completed. Various security enhancements to the Capitol were added after 9/11, including secure bunker spaces for lawmakers and blast-proof doors.
The center finally opened in 2008 and despite lawmakers’ complaints about the delays and run-up in costs, it is now an integral part of the Capitol complex.
“For the thousands of people that work in the Capitol and the members of Congress, it’s going to make it safe because security is the best possible any place in the world,” then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said during the center’s dedication ceremony.
The security enhancements, by some estimates, drove up the cost of the center by $150 million.
The center includes Exhibition Hall, which can hold up to 8,000 people and has a plaster statue of Freedom, which was the model for the bronze figure that is on top of the Capitol dome.
Concerns about the possible threat of a plane flying into the Capitol or other D.C. structures led to the creation of a designated airspace over the Capitol, the White House and National Mall. If an unauthorized aircraft enters the zone, it triggers a major federal response that can include scrambling military fighter jets.
Congress addressed a lot of other security issues after 9/11, most significantly creating the Department of Homeland Security in 2002.
Lawmakers were alarmed by gaps in communication among various federal agencies exposed by the attacks on the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon and the possibility that a commercial jetliner could have been commandeered to strike the Capitol.
DHS was created to oversee nationwide security efforts and combine all or part of 22 different federal departments and agencies.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2004, the first DHS director, Tom Ridge, told lawmakers the agency was created “to provide a central point of command for the protection of our country and citizens.”
Critics have said DHS has become too sprawling and adds to bureaucratic inefficiency. But as this year’s partial government shutdown involving DHS illustrated, lawmakers believe it continues to have a central role in protecting the country, nearly a quarter century after it was established.
As for the Capitol Visitor Center, it continues to welcome millions of tourists to the home of Congress every year.
During its dedication in 2008, then-House Minority Leader John Boehner reminded lawmakers and those in attendance of its significance to the country.
“It’s important to note that this is the first addition to the U.S. Capitol that was built to accommodate the needs of the people, not just the members of Congress,” he said.
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