I don't really see why the "National" Gallery of Art would expand into the DC suburbs. I would imagine that their mission is to provide a valuable gallery experience to those citizens of the country (and non-citizens from all over the world) who travel to DC for tourist purposes rather than to cater to the local community. Instead of questioning the need for another gallery on the Mall why not ask yourself why you live in the Nation's Capitol but rarely take advantage of the incredible cultural opportunities that are available to you in your backyard.

I couldn't disagree with DC1974 more. Putting the NGA into the suburbs would be a terrible mistake; the thousands upon thousands of tourists who come to DC for the "National Experience," and who attend the National Gallery as part of that experience, would be far less likely to go out of their way to Tyson's or a similar location. Maybe it would be slightly more accessible to a few suburbanites and to DC folks with cars, but overall attendance would surely plummet.

As it is, the National Gallery is across the street from the metro, and it's only a 5-10 minute walk from Gallery Place, which is as vibrant an urban neighborhood as any in the city (if a bit pre-packaged). The Penn Quarter area is thriving, and an influx of new shopping and restaurants is beginning to make it a solid evening and weekend destination.

To the extent that museums like the National Gallery are isolated from the rest of the city, it's primarily because of the large number of Federal agency buildings in the area that clear out during non-working hours and in which there are few mixed uses or after-hours attractions.

What we ought to be doing is extending the National Gallery's hours, and using the additional space to incorporate more food and other multipurpose attractions. Not only will this make the museum more accessible and more attractive to visit, but it will improve the quality of the streetscape for the entire neighborhood.

I think this is an excellent move. Now, where are they planning to move the headquarters of the FTC?

I do not have hard data to back this up, but would doubt that the National Air and Space museum's addition, the Udvar-Hazy Center, gets nearly as many people as the original location on the Mall does. It's impossible to get to and no one even knows that it's there!

I think DC1974 has a decent idea. The point is not to diminish the touristy mission of the main NGA buildings, but to "expand the brand" into more interesting spaces and locations. The main buildings could continue as they are (or be supplemented by the third building) but it could give NGS an interesting opportunity to step away from the formal and austere shackles of the main buildings and let its hair down a little bit in some smaller and more flexible locations away from the mall.

Although my question is how does the FTC feel about this? I'm a little uneasy with the idea of the federal agencies abandoning the Federal Triangle buildings built specifically for them. It kind of sends the message that these agencies are not fit to occupy these beautiful buildings. Although maybe the FTC is just dying for space and is happy to move to a newer building.

@ctank: Why don't I go to the National Mall? We'll for one. I work seven days a week. So free time is zero, evenings are spent community organizing and studying. And with the totally city beautiful hole that the national mall is in the middle of -- cut off from the vast majority of the city. Getting to and from it is really a pain anyway.

And frankly, I've done most of the things there. Other than the Hirshhorn. And sometimes the Freer/Sackler. Most of it, to me, isn't worth going back for, especially with limited free time. And I live ihere not because it's the capital -- I good give a flying -- but because that's where my job is. When I take time off, I visit home to see my family or New York or California where my friends are. If I'm lucky, my family visits me here, but they aren't really interested in going to the Mall (again -- they've done that) and its a lot of walking for my mother who is partially disabled and can't walk for long periods of time. And I have had no luck getting friends from other places to visit.

The Smithsonian isn't just for tourists. We are a region of 5 million and if we think that their mission begins and ends with tourists -- there would be no growth. And little in the way of revenue. Most Americans visit DC perhaps once (if that) in their lives. So there is a part of their mission that must include outreach to the local community. And I don't have the attendance numbers, but I think you'd find that the majority of the visitors on annual basis are local. Usually with an expansion, a museum is working to broaden its audience and mission. So I was just suggesting ways that might work for that context. Something that was more akin to a gallery and less a museum -- think PS1 in Queens, although it doesn't have to be quite like that. And again, it's not perhaps the best match for NGA, which is really more like the Met or the DeYoung or the art institute but even the Art Institute in Chicago has worked to broaden its appeal and mission with its successive additions. Although as the school is older there, it is always been an educational institution.

I was just throwing it out there as a suggestion. I do think the NGA does have a reason to be more relevant to the region. The Hirshhorn gets this has been working in that direction.

One important side note:

Many Republicans in Congress really dislike the FTC. (Apparently consumer protection and breaking up anti-consumer monopolies isn't really their thing). It's not a particularly high-profile agency, and I think it's therefore seen as a relatively easy target. Right now the agency is under a continuing resolution that severely limits its ability to recruit and spend money.

Moreover, Congress has tried to mandate that the FTC headquarters be given to the NGA before. If you click the link in the article, you'll notice that the terms of the bill weren't particularly friendly to the FTC. I do think that there's a very real risk that this move would be used by the Congress to force the FTC to scale back its operations due to lack of space.

I still think that NGA expansion into this location is a good idea on principle, but I'd like to know more about what plans exist for relocating the FTC headquarters if the NGA takes over its current building.

I do not have hard data to back this up, but would doubt that the National Air and Space museum's addition, the Udvar-Hazy Center, gets nearly as many people as the original location on the Mall does. It's impossible to get to and no one even knows that it's there!

I wouldn't say "no one."

According to Smithsonian numbers, the Udvar-Hazy Center got slightly more than 1 million visitors in 2006, compared with just over 5 million for the main building. Sure, only 1/5 of what the Mall location, but certainly not an insignificant number.

@ Reid - I don't know the FTC's official position, but would you like it if Congress passed a bill that forced you to vacate your historically significant office building? It would be very disruptive to move the offices of hundreds of people out of a building that has housed the same agency since the 1930s. And, as you mentioned, it would really be a shame to be unable to use the building that was historically built for the agency.

Why is the NGA somehow more entitled to the space than the FTC? I could just as well suggest that the NGA expand into the National Archives Building--it's across the street--and make Archives move elsewhere. I'm sure they'd love to move all their offices and documents.

It doesn't make sense to just kick one government entity out of their own building so another one can co-opt it, unless both parties somehow benefit from the deal. What isn't clear about this article is if there's any incentive for the FTC has to vacate their building.

Why on earth would anyone approve a plan that involved reopening in 2012? Don't these guys know that's the year we all either die, or merge into some cosmic consciousness wherein we all are the artwork in the NGA and every other object in the universe simultaneously?

How does anyone plan that poorly?

Udvar-Hazy..... the only reason anyone goes is because they have a lot of cool huge planes and such that you can't see anywhere else.

The rationale for placement in Bumfuck Egypt was that the sheer size of the facility made it impossible to locate in DC.

I agree that there is a lot more the Smithsonian folks could do to integrate the National Mall museums into the local landscape. They could do a lot to bring locals back - like opening a few decent restaurants in street level museum locations, providing after hours attractions, etc. The ice skating rink at the Sculpture Garden (?) was a nice step in the right direction, but I think even it had fairly limited hours.

The National Mall buildings are a huge waste after hours. And it wouldn't take that much effort to integrate it into the rest of the city.

I remember back in the '70s when NGA and a few other Smithsonian museums were open until 9 on the weekends. The crowds were pretty thin, but that was back when the biggest business on Pennsylvania Avenue was the Apex Liquors, nobody lived downtown, and all the workers rushed back to the burbs so as not to get shot. Now with all the Penn Quarter condos and Chinatown tourists, they've got a guaranteed audience. Aren't the museums one of the reasons they blew half-a-mil on a condo down there in the first place? You'd figure they'd want to hang out after most of the tourists have split.

Of course, I'm not allowed in the Hirschorn since I got busted for spitting at the Morris Louis mural, but it was worth it. My only regret is that I ran out of phlegm.

HCE - I thought they discontinued the shuttle.