The International Spy Museum has announced plans to relocate after hopes of expanding to Carnegie Library and moving to Mount Vernon Square in Washington, D.C. were abandoned.
The Spy Museum has been located at Gallery Place in Penn Quarter since Milton Maltz founded the museum in July 2002. The current locations lease ends in 2017.
The new building will be located near L’Enfant Plaza in Southwest D.C., although the museum has not yet signed a lease. The museum would become a nonprofit if the D.C. government approves $15 million in tax relief and a 30-year $50 million industrial revenue bond.
A $65 million donation of the museum’s money will be used to construct the new building. Currently the museum relies on ticket sales as it is not currently recognized within the Smithsonian Institution. The total cost of the new building is estimated at $162 million.
Real estate company JBG is teaming up with owners as part of a string of renovations in L’Enfant Plaza. Plans reveal making the new museum a stand-alone 140,000-square-foot building including area for exhibits, retail, a theater, classrooms and operations support.
“It will anchor the Southwest Ecodistrict Initiative and the revitalization of 10th Street Southwest, creating 350 jobs throughout construction, and up to 200 permanent jobs at the Museum upon completion,” JBG said. “Additionally, this project would generate over $2 million in annual tax revenue for the District.”
The new building designed by the London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour will feature a glass atrium and a veil suspended in front of a black-box exhibition space. Visitors will be visible from inside and outside the building.
The International Spy Museum is the largest public collection of international espionage artifacts ever.