When the Library of Congress' National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper is completed in May 2006, there will be ample storage space for America's old films.
How much space?
According to Greg Lukow, chief of the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, the linear shelf space on two floors of the three-story Collections Building will total 56 miles.
That's a lot of old movies.
Lukow, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th District, and Assistant Librarian Deanna Marcum presented an overview yesterday of the partially completed $170 million project to a packed house of Culpeper-area community leaders.
"There is no place like this in the world," Cantor told the crowd, jokingly referring to the facility as "a mega-Blockbuster." "This will be a terrific asset for Culpeper."
Construction of the first phase of the project at the old Federal Reserve Bank site on Mount Pony east of Culpeper began in August 2000.
The Federal Reserve storage area, which was all underground, was unearthed and refurbished. This will become the Collections Building, which will store nearly 3 million sound and radio recordings and more than 1 million films.
More than 18 million feet of vintage Fox Movietone newsreel film will be among the items stored.
"We have the original negatives of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman from the movie 'Casablanca,'" Lukow said. "We have film shot by Thomas Edison."
The Collections Building opens in May. The Conservation Building, now under construction, will be completed a year later.
This second facility will contain offices, restoration facilities and a 200-seat movie theater that will host public screenings as often as three times a week.
When two smaller storage pods are finished, the Library of Congress will have a 400,000-square-foot facility unlike any other in the world.
David Woodley Packard and his philanthropic Packard Foundation purchased the Mount Pony site in 1998 and formed a partnership with the Library of Congress.
The foundation is spending $120 million to build the center to Library of Congress specifications. When completed, the facility will be turned over to the federal government.
While the Packard Foundation is footing the construction bill, Congress has earmarked another $50 million for equipment and set-up costs.
When fully operational, the facility will employ about 150 people in various capacities. While many of the Library's media specialists are expected to relocate to Culpeper, as many as 80 new employees will be hired in the first four years of operation, Lukow said.
Salaries will range from $20,000 to $130,000. Jobs will be advertised on the Library of Congress Web site.
While the facility will not be open to the public on a daily basis--at least not at first--there will be opportunities for movie historians from all over the world to get a glimpse of what goes on at the Mount Pony center and to attend screenings in the theater.
"We're taking an if-you-build-it-they-will-come attitude," Lukow said. "We will try to accommodate whatever interest there is."
He did not rule out the possibility of future major movie premières at the facility.
The Library of Congress also plans to work with entrepreneur Greg Yates to show old movies at the State Theater on Main Street in Culpeper once the renovation and restoration of that 1930s facility is complete.
There also will be partnerships with local schools, according to Marcum.
When complete, the huge Library of Congress facility will be all underground (for climate control and protection) except for the terrace façade of the Conservation Building.
"We are hoping that this will make Culpeper a destination for film buffs from all over the country," Marcum said.
To reach DONNIE JOHNSTON: DJohn40330@aol.com