WGNO

WWII Museum breaks ground on $14 million ‘Bollinger Canopy of Peace’

NEW ORLEANS — The Bollinger Canopy of Peace will soon take its place as a new landmark on the New Orleans skyline.

The architectural structure, scheduled for completion in 2018, will rise 148 feet above the center of campus.

The $14 million steel framework will weigh 825 tons. It will be 482 feet long and 134 feet wide, supporting Teflon-coated fiberglass panels.

Architects have been working on it for roughly 15 years.

In the midday sun, the towering, bright-white canopy will serve as a beacon to visitors and locals alike.

After sundown, a state-of-the-art lighting system will transform the Canopy and its support legs into a stunning new nighttime landmark for the city.

Made possible through a generous 2015 gift from longtime Museum Trustee Donald T. “Boysie” Bollinger and his wife Joy, the Canopy ­will visually unify the Museum’s architecturally distinctive campus, bringing all of the buildings together in a way that embraces the stories told beneath it of the American experience in World War II.

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