$106 Million “Taj Mahal” Visitor Center & “Vegetable Woman” Sculpture

It’s Throwback Thursday!

In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spent $106 million on a new 202,000 square foot global communications center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The new structure included a conference center, visitor’s center, information center, and a media services facility. It was named after U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), who was the ranking member on the appropriations committee (which funded the CDC).

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released an oversight report “CDC Off Center” that showcased the wasteful spending. The Wall Street Journal called the facility the CDC’s “Taj Mahal.”

The CDC spared no expense, including a sculpture of a “woman” made from vegetables.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the exhibit was displayed from January through April 2007. It was created “with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), MetLife Foundation, and Pfizer Women’s Health.”

The CDC also featured a “digital ballet” on its newly installed, giant wall of plasma screen TVs.

According to Archi Tech Magazine, the CDC’s Global Symphony program was “a complex digital ballet of hundreds of video elements that play randomly … The payoff was a unique information environment that makes what many consider to be an intimidating place at a time of global pandemic warnings a lot more welcoming.”

Here’s how the architect described the CDC’s four-story Tom Harkin Global Communications Center:

“provides state-of-the-art meeting space, a hub for distance learning, and a place for visitors to study and learn about public health... The complex includes a conference facility and information center that provides learner-centered auditoria and classrooms equipped with technology for multimedia communications; production studios with satellite broadcast, interactive video and Internet webcast capabilities; a secure communications and control center; and a joint Emory University/CDC program office.”

It also includes a learning resource center and public health library, as well as a 1,100-vehicle parking deck.

Unfortunately, the CDC did not spend taxpayer money on something a lot more useful during an actual pandemic – i.e., test development.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.