February 2025
Since our first public forum and Call to Action in 2002, the National Mall Coalition has focused attention on filling gaps in government oversight and in proposing forward-looking ideas to improve the Mall in the future – what we call the 3rd Century Mall.
Our purpose – in the face of fragmented Mall management among eight government entities including the Smithsonian and the National Park Service – is to speak up for the larger public interest on the Mall, the Stage for American Democracy.
Our advocacy remains resolute: to protect and advance the brilliant legacy of the 1791 L’Enfant Plan and the 1902 McMillan Commission Plan; to advocate improvements and policies that put the American people at the heart of the Mall’s meaning and purpose; and to propose innovative ideas to show how the Mall can continue to grow and evolve in its role as Stage for American Democracy.
Read our reports below. For a comprehensive overview of our ideas, see in particular the 2009 Rethinking the National Mall report – and the Press Release announcing its main themes and proposals. Watch our 2024 slideshow for an encapsulation of our Call to Action.
- 2002 State of the National Mall
- 2004 Future of the National Mall
- 2008 Rethinking the National Mall
- 2009 Renewing American Democracy on the 3rd Century Mall
- 2016 America’s 3rd Century National Mall (slideshow)
- 2024 The National Mall Belongs to the American People (slideshow)