The BYU Washington Seminar program is putting the final touches on a building about a mile away from the White House in downtown Washington, D.C. that will provide housing for BYU interns and meeting rooms and offices for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The center will make the experience more meaningful," said Kevin Peterson, 23, a junior from Bountiful majoring in political science. "We will be at the heart of the political district and close to the foundation of our government."

Peterson was accepted to the Washington Seminar program and will be an intern in Washington D.C. this fall.

The center, located at 2520 L St. NW, is in Foggy Bottom and is an ideal, central site.

"To be housed on the West end of Pennsylvania Ave. is tremendous," said Scott Dunaway, director of the Washington Seminar program.

"It'll help make the experience richer for our students but also help to give the church and the university a presence in the District."

President Merrill J. Bateman will preside at the dedication of the Milton A. Barlow Center April 13 and BYU interns will move in April 26, Dunaway said.

The center will have several different uses, Dunaway said.

About 40 single and married BYU students will occupy the top two floors of the four-story building.

The building will also house the Church of Jesus Christ's International and Government Affairs office, which was previously located in the National Press Club.

Additionally, students and young single adults in Washington D.C. will attend a newly organized branch that will meet in the building and offer institute classes during the week.

One of the major advantages of the center is that housing for BYU interns is more affordable.

"Essentially the students are moving into a building that's paid for," Dunaway said. "All we have to do is charge them rent for the overhead."

Aside from providing BYU students with affordable housing - a scarcity in Washington D.C. - the center has other benefits.

"All of the resources of a great city are more readily available to them than when they're living out in the suburbs," Dunaway said.

Peterson said he is excited he will have easier access to all of the historical places in the district, and he hopes his internship is within walking distance.

The center will also be a place people will recognize and associate with BYU and the church, he said.

Dunaway said, "it'll be a signature for the church and the school there and give us some visibility that we maybe haven't had in the past."

Dunaway said he has wanted the center for more than 20 years, but obstacles prevented the building until two-and-a-half years ago when the property the center is built on became available.

BYU financed the land purchase and the building renovation with gifts from the Milton A. Barlow family and others, Dunaway said.

The center's namesake, Milton A. Barlow, was a prominent developer and active member of the church in the Washington, D.C. area.

His family has contributed extensively to the church and to many areas of BYU including the Museum of Art and the fine arts program, Dunaway said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Apr 2002