Countdown to the Opening July 3, 2006

Museum staff encountered this countdown clock when entering and leaving work every day.

Rachel Allen, our Deputy Director, reminded us today of another milestone: "999 days ago, the museum started counting the days until reopening. (The original opening date was July 4, but later changed to July 1.) Museum staff loved to hate the countdown clock; its relentless ticking was a nagging minute-by-minute reminder of work to be done. Nobody was in the office this weekend to observe the moment when the countdown clock reached the zero hour. We were across the street welcoming the first visitors into the Donald W. Reynolds Center. That’s the moment that we had all been working toward!"

• Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Smithsonian American Art Museum