; Sunday Evening • June 28, 2009
6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Spirit of Washington Cruise
Wear your favorite cruisewear and join
us as we set sail along the Potomac
River aboard the fabulous Spirit of
Washington exclusively reserved for
IDEA members and guests. Your excursion
covers the Potomac River with fascinating views of America’s
great landmarks and Washington, DC’s historic waterfront.
Dine, dance and mingle with your family and colleagues and
have a great time.
; Tuesday Evening • June 30, 2009
6:00 pm – 10: 30 pm
Chairman’s Centennial Gala Dinner
(black-tie optional)
Celebrating 100 Years of Informing,
Connecting, Advancing: IDEA’S Gala
Dinner at the National Building Museum
Past Presidents, System of the Year recipients
and Norman R. Taylor Award winners will be
recognized along with recognition of IDEA
Public Leaders and Chairman’s Awards.
Tickets are required for admittance into these events.
Gala Dinner at
a Grand Venue:
National Building Museum
The Chairman’s Centennial Gala Dinner Tuesday
night will be held at the resplendent National
Building Museum.
Once known as the Pension Building, the edifice
served as the venue for President William Howard
Taft’s inaugural ball 100 years ago on March 9, 1909.
It has hosted dozens of inaugural balls and special
events through the years, but its most important
modern-day function is as home to the National
Building Museum. The museum is considered one
of the world’s most prominent and vital venues for
informed, reasoned debate related to development,
architecture, construction and engineering, interior
design, landscape architecture and urban planning.
The building is considered an architectural marvel
and was designed to provide natural air-conditioning
and light for its employees. By using air vents in the
exterior walls of the building, a ventilation system
was created where hot air escaped through the roof’s
skylights. The upward flow of air drew in fresh air
through the exterior wall openings. The building’s
Great Hall houses massive Corinthian columns that
are among the tallest interior columns in the world.
Designed by Army Quartermaster General
Montgomery C. Meigs in 1881 and constructed
between 1882 and 1887, the building originally
housed the U.S. Pension Bureau, a federal agency
created to award pensions to Union veterans. It still
serves as a memorial to the Union soldiers, sailors
and marines of the Civil War, as reflected in the
exterior frieze extending around the building.
