Building A Museum Any Planner Could Love

"The museum is little more than a collection of photographs and maps chronicling the history of one of the nation's boldest efforts at urban planning. But its keepers hope to make it much more. With grants of up to $250,000 expected from Fairfax County in coming months, the museum's officers plan to renovate the space from top to bottom and bring alive the community's history."

"Tucked away in one of the leafier villages that surround Reston's more visible town center, the Reston museum attracts surprising traffic: about 12,000 visitors each year, Wingert said. Most are from other countries. And most are drawn to learn the story of the planned community that got started in 1961, when Simon, the son of a wealthy developer, used proceeds from the sale of a family property, Carnegie Hall, to buy 6,750 acres of Virginia farmland about 20 miles west of the District."