United States Capitol

==Capitol Visitor Center==
{{Main|United States Capitol Visitor Center}}
[[File:Capitol Visitor Center opening ceremonies 2.jpg|thumb|The opening ceremony of the [[United States Capitol Visitor Center|Capitol Visitor Center]] with a plaster cast model of the ''[[Statue of Freedom]]'' is in the foreground in December 2008]]
[[File:Capitol dome model.jpg|alt=Photo of the scale model of the Capitol Dome|thumb|Scale model of the Capitol Dome]]
The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), located below the East Front of the Capitol and its plaza, between the Capitol building and 1st Street East, opened on December 2, 2008. The CVC provides a single security checkpoint for all visitors, including those with disabilities, and an expansion space{{clarify|date=March 2017}} for the US Congress.<ref>{{cite web |title= U.S. Capitol Visitor Center |url=https://www.aoc.gov/capitol-buildings/us-capitol-visitor-center |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |access-date=March 4, 2017}}</ref><ref name="test">[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/capitol-attraction Philip Kopper] "A Capitol Attraction", ''American Heritage'', Spring 2009.</ref> 

The complex contains {{convert|580000|sqft|m2}} of space below ground on three floors,<ref>{{cite web|title=Capitol Visitor Center: Project Information |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |url=http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/project_info/index.cfm |access-date=November 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081101021342/http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/project_info/index.cfm |archive-date=November 1, 2008 }}</ref> and offers visitors a food court, restrooms, and educational exhibits, including an 11-foot scale model of the Capitol dome.<ref>{{cite web | title=Congress' Newest Member: The US Capitol Visitor Center | work=Washingtonian magazine | url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2008/11/18/congress-newest-member-the-us-capitol-visitor-center/ | date=November 8, 2008}}</ref> It also features [[Daylighting (architecture)|skylights]] affording views of the actual dome. Long in the planning stages, construction began in the fall of 2001, following the killing of two Capitol police officers in 1998. The estimated final cost of constructing the CVC was [[US Dollar|$]]621 million.<ref name="FactSheet">{{cite web|title=Capitol Visitor Center Fact Sheet |date=Spring 2008 |publisher=Architect of the Capitol |url=http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/project_info/upload/CVC%20Fact%20Sheet%20Spring%202008_1.pdf |access-date=November 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031050211/http://www.aoc.gov/cvc/project_info/upload/CVC%20Fact%20Sheet%20Spring%202008_1.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2008 }}</ref>