Axios D.C.
September 11, 2026
1 big thing: 🇺🇸 Pentagon project advances
A long-delayed visitor center at the Pentagon's 9/11 Memorial is moving forward — 25 years after the attack.
Why it matters: The Pentagon is the only location of the three Sept. 11 attack sites without a museum or visitor's space dedicated to the significance of the site and the lives lost there.
Driving the news: A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled tomorrow for the $100 million 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center.
- The National Park Service also recently designated the site — which draws more than 1 million visitors annually — as an affiliated area of the NPS system.
The big picture: Twenty-five years ago today, a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, claiming the lives of 184 people.
- The proposed center, sitting on 4 acres near the outdoor memorial, would tell the story of that day and how the country moved forward from the attacks.
- Plans call for exhibits, educational programs, a cafe, a bookstore and event spaces. Admission would be free.
- It's being spearheaded by the Pentagon Memorial Fund, a nonprofit created by the families of people killed in the attack.
Construction is anticipated to start soon, with a hoped for opening date of 2029, Pentagon Memorial Fund executive director Joseph Kornhoff told the Washington Post.
Yes, but: Tomorrow's ceremony is mostly symbolic. There are still several steps before the project is fully greenlit, including final sign-off from federal design commissions.
- Plus: Funding has been the project's biggest obstacle, Kornhoff told the Post. Organizers have secured about 20% to 25% of the project's anticipated costs.
What they're saying: Former Virginia governors Terry McAuliffe (D) and Bob McDonnell (R) called the project "long overdue" in a joint newspaper column this year.
- "With each passing year, the void created by the absence of an educational experience at the Pentagon grows larger," they wrote.
2. 📚 New library just dropped
A big underground dig has revived one of D.C.'s original Carnegie libraries.
Why it matters: A $41 million renovation more than doubled the size of the historic Southeast Library in Eastern Market.
✨ Driving the news: D.C. reopened the library yesterday with a new kids' space, meeting and study rooms, and an elevator connecting all three levels.
- Fitting all that required crews to excavate 40 feet underground, at one point holding the historic structure up with steel supports.
- Its expanded lower floor feels less like a typical basement thanks to high ceilings and a central skylight.
- Crews also restored parts of the century-old building, including an upstairs fireplace mantel and an ornamental ceiling panel discovered behind plaster.
What they're saying: The old library, with a children's area crammed by the front desk, "was just way too small," said Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, who reps the neighborhood.
Zoom out: Mayor Bowser said D.C. invested $500 million in renovating and improving libraries under her three terms.
- Libraries in Chevy Chase, Shepherd Park and Congress Heights are awaiting completion of their renovations.
3. Around the Beltway: 🛫 Clearing the air
4. 😋 New eats at the Smithsonian
Axios D.C.
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