National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center Breaks Ground in Arlington

Ground was broken on Saturday, September 12, 2026, for a new Visitor Education Center at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. The 52,000-square-foot facility will help visitors understand the events and impact of September 11 while honoring the 184 people killed at the Pentagon and aboard American Airlines Flight 77. 

Through interactive exhibits, artifacts, and personal accounts, the center will tell the story of the events of that day; the lives of those affected; and the local, national, and global response that followed. 

Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural engineering and protective design and security services for the Visitor Education Center, working with Fentress Studios, a Populous Company. The design draws connections to the surrounding site. Seven parallel building forms reference the rows of benches at the Pentagon Memorial, while a sweeping two-story colonnade unifies the main façade and echoes buildings at the nearby Arlington National Cemetery. 

The center is scheduled to open in 2029.