Photo by Kristine Marsh.

Hundreds of thousands of translucent balls that currently make up the “ocean” of the National Building Museum’s The Beach aren’t headed for some comically over-sized trash bin. The plastic balls, along with 6,000 square feet of construction mesh from the temporary exhibit, will be rearranged into the raw materials of an art competition sponsored by the Dupont Underground.

The organization is working to reactivate the tunnels underneath Dupont Circle, which once served the streetcars and were briefly resuscitated as a fallout shelter and a failed food court. Their new vision for the space includes art exhibits, community events, retail, and dining options that organizers say will begin opening to the public in the fall.

One of the first offerings will be a competition where artists design installations for the site using the plastic balls.

The partnership “is an incredible opportunity for the Dupont Underground to demonstrate its arts and design mission in a large-scale and somewhat unprecedented way,” Dupont Underground’s managing director Braulio Agnese said.

According to the museum, more than 120,000 people have visited The Beach since it opened on July 4. The installation is set to come down on September 7, and staff and volunteers with the Dupont Underground will transport the plastic balls and construction mesh to the cavernous trolley tunnels. The other materials will either be re-used by the National Building Museum, donated, or recycled.

The plan to re-purpose the materials has been underway since well before the public even set foot in exhibit.

“Dupont Underground shares both our interest in built environment education as well as our commitment to responsible environmental stewardship, and this made them an ideal partner for extending the life and impact of this installation,” said Chase Rynd, president and executive director of the National Building Museum.

And Agnese says they are already thinking about ways to reuse the balls after the competition is over.