News can inspire any emotion, and Freedom Forum’s new $500 million shrine on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., to what it calls “the first draft of history” is elevating private events in the capital as well.
Located so close to America’s Capitol dome, The National Gallery of Art and other national treasures, Newseum is a seven-level glass and steel collection of galleries, high-tech theaters and broadcast studios, a food court, and retail spaces. Cantilevered off the edifice are spacious outdoor terraces overlooking D.C.’s monuments and rooftops.
A special group entrance and elevator admits guests to the 24,000-square-foot Knight Conference Center, a seventh-floor platform boasting unobstructed capitol and city views.
Or, planners may opt to stage some ‘wow’ inside museum gallery and theater spaces.
The museum’s 90-foot high centerpiece Great Hall of News atrium makes for stunning dinners and receptions. The 40-by-22-foot high-definition media screen, visible both from inside and outside Newseum, presides over events, while historic TV news, breaking news or documentaries flicker on the screen, and a 238-foot-long news zipper runs the latest headlines. Overhead, a suspended replica news chopper floats over the scene.
Optional access to 15 Newseum galleries can extend the event experience. In the Time Warner World News Gallery, guests may watch television news and compare press freedoms in more than 190 countries. Today’s Front Pages exhibits 80 newspaper front pages from around the globe, enlarged and updated daily, plus electronic access to over 500 front pages.
The Comcast 9/11 Gallery explores the extraordinary challenges journalists faced as they tried to report news that day. The popular Ethics Center provides a unique “group interactive experience” for team building at its Ethics Table, challenging players to correctly answer a series of ethical questions and be the first to fill in the front page of their team’s newspaper.
As the exclusive Newseum caterer, Wolfgang Puck Catering serves groups ranging from small corporate luncheons and dinners to huge receptions. Elegant private dining is available in Chef Puck’s three-level Newseum restaurant, The Source. A bar and grill ambience with a casual menu is available on the ground floor, and a more formal dining room upstairs features dishes from Puck’s famed Spago, Chinois and Postrio restaurants.
