who designed the holocaust museum in washington dc
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum After a unanimous vote by the United States Congress in 1980 to establish the museum, the federal government made available 1.9 acres (0.77Â ha) of land adjacent to the Washington Monument for construction. Under the original Director Richard Krieger, and subsequent Director Jeshajahu Weinberg and Chairman Miles Lerman, nearly $190 million was raised from private sources for building design, artifact acquisition, and exhibition creation. In October 1988, President Ronald Reagan helped lay the cornerstone of the building, designed by the architect James Ingo Freed. Dedication ceremonies on April 22, 1993 included speeches by American President Bill Clinton, Israeli President Chaim Herzog, Chairman Harvey Meyerhoff, and Elie Wiesel. On April 26, 1993, the Museum opened to the general public. Its first visitor was the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.[6]