"Extending the Legacy: Planning America's Capital for the 21st Century"

“Washington, America’s Capital, is a world capital – A city of remarkable strengths. Its proud face reflects many if our nation’s greatest memories, achievements and aspirations. On the eve of a new millennia, it is appropriate for us to renew our commitment to making our Capitol City the finest place to learn to work and to live.”

U.S. President William J. Clinton (1993-2001)

Extending the Legacy is a framework for change. We use the term, framework literally, to mean outline or armature. Legacy is not a comprehensive master plan, as that term is used by planners and lawyers. It does not impose land use and development controls. Rather it is a basic guide for long term growth.

The vision presented here protects the capital for those who follow us, yet also embraces the future with confidence and optimism. As a preeminent world city and the seat of a great democracy, Washington demands a vision of beauty, nobility and power. Extending the Legacy is such a vision.

Harvey B. Gantt, FAIA Chairman NCPC ( -1999)
Biographical info: http://www.scafricanamericanhistory.com/currenthonoree.asp?month=2&year=1994

Extending the Legacy is a dramatic departure from past federal plans tha directed facilities and investments to the Mall and adjacent ceremonial corridors. Legacy recenters monumental Washington on the Capital, creating opportunities for new museums, memorials and offices in all quadrants of the city. It expands the reach of public transit and eliminates obsolete freeways, bridges and railroad tracks that fragment the city. It reclaims the capital’s historic waterfront and reverses decades of environmental neglect. Using federal resources to generate local investment, Legacy will spur community revitalization and infrastructure rebuilding well into the next century.

Reginald W. Griffith, AICP, AIA, Executive Director NCPC (1979-2001)

Biographical info: http://www.opm.gov/ses/dea98ncpc.asp

EXTENDING THE LEGACY represents the third act in a continuous planning drama that began over 200 years ago, when President George Washington commissioned Pierre L’Enfant to lay out the new Capital. Like the L’Enfant and McMillan plans it looks ahead 50 to 100 years. And like them, it offers a framework for future development.

Extending the Legacy: Planning America's Capital for the 21st Century, at page 5