Alexandrians Contribute to National Building Museum Exhibit

The work of students and graduates of in Old Town show that mini-golf has come a long way from just trying to get the ball past the rotating windmill.

Several Alexandrians stepped up to the task when the National Building Museum invited architects to help design an indoor miniature golf course, which is now open to players ages four at up through Labor Day at the Washington, D.C.-based museum.

Virginia Tech’s National Capital Region newsletter reports that two of the holes feature work from Old Town’s Washington Alexandria Architecture Center.

Rebecca May of Alexandria and Luke Van Bellegham of Washington, D.C., recent graduates of the Master of Landscape Architecture Program, and Seth Estep of Alexandria, a current student in the program, designed and built the seventh hole, “Take Back the Streets.”

May said the team crafted the initial design concept and drawings in about a week and then spent another week and a half on construction and installation. The street includes a dedicated bus land, trolley land, general traffic lane and on-street parking. It was inspired by Oregon’s Portland Mall Revitalization.

The ninth hole in the course, "Daedalus' Journey," was designed and built by Jonathan Foote, adjunct faculty at the Alexandria Architecture Center, and two students: Jason Granado, a Virginia Tech Master of Landscape Architecture student, and Sean MacManus, a Master of Architecture student. Foote, Granado and MacManus are all residents of Alexandria.

For visitors to the museum interested in playing a round at the course, it's $5 per round per person, according to the museum's website. With purchase of full-price museum exhibition admission ticket, the price per round is reduced to $3. Museum members play for $3. Those who want to see the course without playing can do so as long as they have exhibition admission tickets.