In Washington, the construction of Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial has begun

Washington - After several years of disputes, the construction of a memorial to former president and World War II hero Dwight Eisenhower officially began today in the USA, which will stand in Washington. The controversial design was created by American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry, who is known for his designs of the concert hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and is a co-author of the Dancing House in Prague.

Gehry proposed to build an extensive memorial site with columns, sculptures, and giant tapestries woven from steel in front of the Washington headquarters of the Department of Agriculture. The work is meant to commemorate the stages of the life of the 34th president of the USA, including his key contribution to the advance of Allied invasion forces in Normandy in 1944. The construction of the memorial will cost 140 million dollars (three billion crowns), and the American Congress will decide on the release of these funds.

Eisenhower's family disagreed with Gehry's original design, and the conservative American magazine National Review labeled the proposal in September as "an ugly monstrosity." Gehry revised the project and reduced its dimensions, ultimately reaching an agreement with the family represented by three grandsons of the former president. The disputes lasted 15 years, and the memorial is expected to be completed in June 2019.

Dwight Eisenhower became the President of the United States in 1952 and served two terms. He died in 1969. Once the memorial is completed, it will join the existing Washington memorials for Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.