Montpelier hopes to introduce more to Constitution

MONTPELIER STATION — For several years, middle and high school teachers have studied one of the nation’s most important documents at the Center for the Constitution. But the center now hopes to build a larger facility and expand its programming to members of the General Assembly, Congress, media and law enforcement officers.

The center is focusing on developing such programs over the next year and expanding the number of people who can be taught and housed on the grounds of Montpelier, said Sean O’Brien, the center’s executive director.

“We want to find people who really need to know about the Constitution and what its significance is, whether they’re leading the country, protecting us or asking questions,” O’Brien said.

The center was founded in 2003 as a non-partisan, non-ideological organization dedicated to the founding principles of the Constitution, which was developed by Founding Father James Madison. O’Brien said he was brought on about six months ago with the intent of expanding the center. Previously, he served as executive director for the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.

While the center’s programs for teachers focus on what the founders were referring to within the document, O’Brien said the new programs would allow participants to discuss current constitutional issues. Like the teachers’ sessions, the programs also would run from one to seven days.

To pay for the programs, the center looks for sponsors to cover costs rather than charge attendees. The price for each program varies, depending on the number of scholars and attendees; a three-day program for 25 teachers costs about $25,000.

O’Brien said the new programs will start rolling out later this year as schedules permit. The General Assembly workshops are expected to start in the winter, the programming for members of Congress will start next spring and the other two programs may start at any time.

The center’s executive director hopes to one day bring in people from emerging democracies.

“We want people to come to America and to the home of James Madison to study [the Constitution] and think about it so when they go home, they have a solid understanding and background of what we were thinking about when we developed our democracy,” O’Brien said. “I have been working with contacts at the World Bank. It’s possible it will take months or it will happen right away. It’s hard to know.”

Eventually, the center is looking to host 75 people at a time, up from the 30 the site can currently teach and house. O’Brien said the cost would be in the millions for the new building, which would be built out of sight of the mansion.

Construction and renovation has been prevalent around Montpelier in the last two years, the home’s restoration notwithstanding. A new visitor center opened last year, and the former center on Route 20 was been renovated into office space.

A few new items also have been put on display at the Joe and Marge Grills Gallery, including a Bible given to Dolley Madison on her 77th birthday and a reproduction of a painting that is believed to have hung in the mansion’s drawing room. The painting, which features Pan surprising maidens in a grove, was tracked down after having passed through the hands of multiple owners.