The Pentagon Memorial Fund has announced a $2.5 million gift from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation toward construction of a 9/11 Pentagon Visitor Education Center.

The largest donation to the fund will support construction of a center designed to educate visitors about the events of September 11, 2001, the lives lost that day, and the historic significance of the Pentagon Memorial site. To date, the fund has raised $6 million toward its phase one fundraising goal of $25 million and hopes to raise a total of $75 million for construction of the center and an endowment to support its operations.

To be located next to the existing National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, a $22 million, two-acre park that was dedicated on September 11, 2008, the planned center will include an interactive multimedia exhibit space, a children's education area, a reflection area, conference and meeting rooms, an auditorium, and a sky terrace. Content for the exhibits and education curricula will be provided through collaborations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Geographic, the Federal Air Marshals, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, the Flight 93 Memorial/National Park Service, and other agencies and organizations.

"The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation has a long history of supporting education and national defense initiatives," said James J. Laychak, president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund. "This project advances both of these important efforts as well as honors the lives that were lost that day. One of the shared concerns of all who lived through that tragic day is to make sure future generations understand what happened and work to ensure it never happens again."