Sep
14

Today in Smithsonian History: September 14, 1981

Auguste Rodin's "Burghers of Calais" is airlifted back into the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden's sculpture garden after the renovation of the garden. (Photo by Jeff Tinsley, as featured in the Torch, October 1981)

Auguste Rodin’s “Burghers of Calais” is airlifted back into the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  after the renovation of the garden. (Photo by Jeff Tinsley, as featured in the Torch, October 1981)

September 14, 1981 The Hirshhorn Museum officially reopens its Sculpture Garden after renovation to provide access for disabled visitors. The redesign is accomplished by Lester Collins, a Washington-based landscape architect, and includes graded ramps along the north border of the garden to give disabled visitors access to the major viewing level. A third ramp is built to provide access to the lower level, and pathways are resurfaced in brick to make it wheelchair accessible.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

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Posted: 14 September 2019
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