Canopy trouble
If you plan to visit the Old Patent Office Building when it reopens next summer, make sure you don’t go on a rainy day. The glass canopy won’t be installed over the courtyard until the winter of 2007. Apparently the canopy costs $20 million more than the Smithsonian has. The canopy has already sparked controversy, not least because it didn’t exist when the building and surrounding areas first came into use. Also because, you know, $20 million is a lot to spend on glass.