Smithsonian Honors Past, Celebrates Future of American Indians

Our hats go off to the members of Local 1 Maryland/Virginia/
District of Columbia for their exceptional work on the latest addition to the National Mall – the National Museum of the American Indian. Celebrating its first anniversary in September, the museum brought to completion a $219 million project that employed roughly 40 members employed by GA Masonry.

Local 1 MD/VA/DC member Jesse Jones lays block on one of the building’s exterior radius walls.

The 250,000 square-foot structure’s exterior was built with Kasota stone, a butter-colored limestone custom cut by Vetter Stone of Minnesota. Its unique qualities set the new museum apart from existing Smithsonian museums that feature traditional gray limestone. An even greater distinction is the building’s curvilinear shape, which is meant to evoke a more natural look by respecting nature’s lack of straight lines; resembling stone that has been weathered by wind and rain.

The National Museum of the American Indian is the 18th and final Smithsonian museum to be located on the National Mall, and fills the last empty space between the National Air and Space Museum and the U.S. Botanic Garden.