Overview
- Seven Smithsonian buildings on the south side of the National Mall closed after chilled water stopped reaching their cooling systems, a disruption that occurred on Thursday, August 6.
- The affected sites are the Smithsonian Castle, Arts and Industries Building, National Museum of the American Indian, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Museum of Asian Art, National Museum of African Art, and the S. Dillon Ripley Center.
- The U.S. General Services Administration said crews are addressing an operational interruption at a roughly 90-year-old power and cooling plant that supplies chilled water to the cluster of museums.
- Smithsonian officials have not confirmed whether any collections were harmed and have given no reopening timeline, while the city was experiencing very hot, humid conditions that raise short-term risks for climate-sensitive objects.
- The incident revives questions about reliance on centralized, aging federal infrastructure after a similar central-plant problem closed Smithsonian sites last summer and it has prompted public and political scrutiny of museum operations.