The National Mall Underground project is a collaborative effort of philanthropist and businessman Albert H. Small, architect Arthur Cotton Moore FAIA, and the nonprofit National Mall Coalition.

Albert H. Small, a native Washingtonian and long-time resident of the nation’s capital, has been advocating a National Mall underground parking garage since the 1950s. His vision is to encourage families and other visitors to experience American history and heritage in our national museums and cultural events such as the Book Festival by providing convenient parking under the Mall’s grassy open space. A co-founder of Southern Engineering Corporation, Mr. Small is a member of the Board of the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He recently donated his valuable collection of historical maps and images of Washington, DC, to The George Washington University.

Arthur Cotton Moore, FAIA is a sixth-generation Washingtonian, a graduate of St. Albans School, Princeton University, and Princeton University School of Architecture.  A national award-winning, internationally recognized Architect, Planner, and Preservationist, since 1965 ACM has practiced in 38 cities across the country, and received over 70 Design Awards, including three National AIA Honor Awards, and two national Architectural Record Residential Design Awards. His “Industrial Baroque” furniture series was awarded Architectural Record magazine’s 1990 Award for Excellence in Design.  He has served on the country’s most prestigious national design juries as well as regional and state AIA programs, lectured throughout the U.S. and at Trinity College in Dublin, and traveled to 115 countries, many multiple times, to photograph and study their Architecture. His projects have been published in over 2,700 articles in magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad.  

The National Mall Coalition, a nonprofit organization of architects, historians, educators, and concerned citizens founded in 2000, advocates for comprehensive, visionary planning for the National Mall and proposes creative solutions to short term and long term threats and needs. The Coalition helped develop Mr. Small’s original parking garage idea into a multi-purpose facility that provides additional benefits for all Mall constituencies. Coalition President Judy Scott Feldman PhD, is a native Washingtonian, an art historian, educator, and expert on Mall history and contemporary issues.