WASHINGTON – The Smithsonian Institution plans to create an innovation pavilion with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in one of the oldest buildings on the National Mall.
The 132-year-old Arts and Industries Building closed in 2004 due to structural problems and has been undergoing repairs.
Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough says the building will celebrate American ingenuity as it did with its first exhibit in the 1880s.
The building will be reopened in 2014 with patent office funding to begin housing exhibits and interactive programs for seven years. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas says the patent office will provide up to $7.5 million.
The building's interior will be left unfinished. Plans for the innovation pavilion are temporary because a proposed National Museum of the American Latino could later be located there.
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