The Department now owns approximately 32 acres (13.22 hectares) of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the northern portion of the District of Columbia, near the border with Silver Spring, Maryland (at the intersection of 16th Street, NW, and Alaska Avenue, facing Rock Creek Park). The Department is developing this property into a chancery center called the Foreign Mission Center (FMC). The FMC will be similar to the Department’s International Chancery Center, located in the District of Columbia near the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street.
The vision for the FMC master plan is to reinforce existing cultural and natural landscapes, reuse key historic structures, and respect existing formal building arrangements.
The FMC has become a central meeting place for foreign missions with events such as the Foreign Missions Festival. The Office of Foreign Missions has also hosted a number of foreign missions and delegations at the FMC’s chapel, a historic landmark that has provided the perfect venue and meeting space for bilateral meetings and events. A public hearing for the Foreign Missions Center took place on April 20, 2017. During this meeting, OFM’s Acting Director, Cliff Seagroves, discussed the proposed Foreign Mission Center and presented the need for such a site in the Nation’s capital.
Events at the Foreign Missions Center
January 2020: Grasses for the Masses
October 2019: OFM Halloween Party
May 2019: OFM Kentucky Derby Party
March 2018: The Office of the National Capital Planning Commissioner (NCPC) visits the FMC
February 2018: The Embassy of Libya Moves into Their New Headquarters at the FMC
October 2017: Foreign Missions Street Festival
August 2017: Bilateral meeting with Vietnam held at the Chapel
April 2017: Foreign Missions Center Public Hearing
March 2017: Signing of the Enhanced Consular Immunities Agreement with the Government of Greece
March 2017: The Foreign Minister of Libya visits the FMC
January 2017: Restore the Bay Workshop
October 2016: Foreign Missions Street Festival