The Inn to Host Groundbreaking Ceremony for The Inn of Tomorrow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BETHESDA, Md. — November 11, 2024 — The Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony on November 13 to commemorate the official beginning of the renovation and expansion project which will culminate in the opening of The Inn of Tomorrow. Media are invited to attend with advance RSVP to Sam Angell ([email protected]).
Jennie Lucca, the CEO of The Children’s Inn, was excited to announce the upcoming ceremony. “The groundbreaking ceremony represents the beginning of a bright new future for The Inn, but it is also the culmination of years of planning and hard work by our team. Thanks to the generosity of our partners and donors and the thorough ongoing efforts or staff, we will start to see more tangiblie results of that preparation as The Inn remains an integral part of the medical discoveries being made at NIH every day.”
With the groundbreaking fast approaching, there have been several notable updates already taking place. Last winter, ground was broken on the Young Adult Residence, to be housed in a residential building across West Drive from The Inn’s main building. This facility will focus primarily on the unique needs of the young adult population that comes to The Inn, which serves children, teens, and young adults from birth to age 30.
Additionally, The Inn and its architectural partners Perkins & Will have engaged the design agency Local Projects to work specifically on the Merck Tower of Hope, a beacon with two interior spaces which will serve as the centerpiece of the newly-renovated Inn. Local Projects is responsible for projects such as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, as well as Planet Word, the world’s first voice-activated museum, in Washington DC. Their design for the Merck Tower of Hope promises to be an awe-inspiring, multi-sensory, inclusive space for all families at The Inn. It will be a flexible information hub, as well as an invitation for creative exploration, allowing families to immerse in unexpected imaginative worlds.
As the groundbreaking approaches, 100% of the drawings needed for the development of The Inn of Tomorrow have been submitted by Perkins & Will. Internally, Inn staff is coordinating efforts to maintain records and storage needs while also continuing to serve families at the same high level during the construction phase.
The Children’s Inn at NIH is a private, nonprofit “Place Like Home” for children and their families participating in pediatric research at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, the world’s premier biomedical research hospital. The Inn reduces the burden of illness through therapeutic, educational, and recreational programming – all at no cost to the families. Since opening in 1990, families from around the world and all 50 states have considered The Inn their home. As a partner in discovery and care with the NIH, The Inn strives for the day when no family endures the heartbreak of a seriously ill child.
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For more information about the groundbreaking ceremony or The Children’s Inn at NIH, please contact Sam Angell ([email protected]) or Liz Gouldman ([email protected]).