Capitol Visitor Center set to open

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An invitation-only ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday in Washington to mark the formal opening of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.

The subterranean edifice, which took more than six years to construct, was supposed to cost $71 million but ended up with a price tag of $621 million, The Washington Post reported Monday.

"I've never seen a bigger boondoggle in my life," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., told the Post "It's like they're playing with Monopoly money."

The center's exhibition hall has 93-foot high marble walls lined with artifacts from U.S. history. The floors are pink marble from Tennessee. There are fountains, a spiral staircase, six skylights and statues of 24 people ranging from former members of Congress to notables like such as Helen Keller.

The center is to open to the public at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday after the formal ceremony has concluded, the Post said.