By Ed Epstein
Washington, D.C.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Ford's Theatre, the landmark so closely associated with Abraham Lincoln, this week opens the sixth building in its heavily visited complex, a six-story cultural center across 10th Street from the theatre where the 16th president was mortally wounded on April 14, 1865.
The new facility, which cost more than $40 million, kept the facade of an old building, but behind that everything is new, and the building grew from three stories to six. The new building, which formally opens this Wednesday, contains rehearsal space for Ford's theatrical productions, rooms for education and functions, a 6,000-foot gift shop and snack bar on the ground floor, and an outdoor plaza on the fourth floor.
"This project has been in the works since 2018," said Paul Tetreault, director of the Ford's Theatre Society. "But Covid threw it for a loop in 2020, and now it's on." Much of the money for the project comes from the society's private donors.
The new cultural center is south of Ford's Center for Education and Leadership, which is housed in another old building that Ford's bought and renovated. In addition to classrooms, it houses a museum on the upper floors about the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination. That building, in turn, is next to Petersen House, the national landmark structure where Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, his death caused by an assassin's bullet to his brain.
Across the street from these three buildings to the east are the other three buildings that are part of the Ford complex. There is the heavily visited theatre itself, and two other historic buildings to its south. "We call it our campus," Tetreault said.
The complex is actually managed by the National Park Service, whose rangers lead the complex's more than 650,000 visitors a year on tours. Tourists can sign up for timed tours, which can include the theater itself, where the box where Lincoln was shot is lovingly preserved; a basement museum; a visit to Petersen House across the street to see the bedroom where Lincoln died; and then an elevator ride up to the aftermath-museum.
Ford's hosts several theatrical productions a year but never forgets its close ties to Lincoln. "Our mission: Ford's Theatre explores the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln and celebrates the American experience through theater and education," it says on its website.
The Ford's Society runs educational programs for grade schoolers up to high school teachers, some of whom come to Washington for a weeklong program in the summer to learn how to incorporate Lincoln into their class lessons. The Lincoln Group is a donor to that program.
Photos by Ed Epstein
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