On September 19, 2020, Libby O’Connell, representing the World War I Commission, and David A. Rubin, founding principal of David Rubin Land Collective, presented the revised design to the US Commission of Fine Arts for final approval, and the new concept was able to move forward through construction.

On April 16, 2021, the U.S. flag was raised at the memorial and President Joe Biden spoke at a virtual ceremony opening it to the public.

[6] Development of the square proved controversial, as different groups offered competing proposals for memorials to John J. Pershing, who had served as General of the Armies in World War I.

[8] In September 1963, District of Columbia officials finally planted grass and flower beds to temporarily beautify the square.

[12] The park was slightly enlarged due to the realignment of Pennsylvania Avenue NW along the area's north side.

More than 400 demonstrators were illegally arrested in Pershing Park in September 2002 during anti-globalization protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

114) giving official federal recognition to the Liberty Memorial as "America's National World War I Museum".

[22] In 2004, with the National World War II Memorial about to open in Washington, D.C., Representative Karen McCarthy (D-Missouri) introduced legislation (H.Con.Res.

Legislation to establish the National World War II Memorial was introduced in 1987, and after several unsuccessful efforts passed Congress on May 12, 1993.

[28][a] D.C. Council member Jack Evans (in whose ward the D.C. War Memorial was located) and Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s Delegate to Congress, became honorary trustees of the foundation.

[29] In 2007, Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas) met Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I.

[30] Buckles expressed his dismay that there was no national World War I memorial, and Poe began to champion his cause.

Poe introduced legislation the next year, titled the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act (H.R.

6696), that authorized the American Battle Monuments Commission to either take over the District of Columbia War Memorial or to build a new one on the same site.

Legislation finally passed in the 112th Congress, compromising by designating both sites as national memorials, as suggested in 2008 by attorney Edwin Fountain.

On January 24, 2011, the Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Federal Lands held hearings on the bill.

[32][40] D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia also opposed the redesignation effort.

[42] In June 2012, Poe agreed to abandon his effort to redesignate the District of Columbia War memorial,[33] and Del.

By summer 2012, D.C. officials, Norton, and their congressional supporters were pushing for a national World War I memorial at Pershing Park.

[30] Meanwhile, discussion among members of Congress had turned toward giving the World War I Centennial Commission authority to build the new memorial.

[30] Cleaver conceived the idea of inserting the bill's language into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.

4435) reached the House floor in May, Cleaver and Poe successfully co-sponsored an amendment to insert the memorial language into the bill.

3979, the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.

In Phase I, any member of the public from any country[46][47] could submit a sketch and 250-word design proposal (along with a $100 submission fee)[47] by July 21, 2015.

[55] The National Capital Planning Commission, the other federal agency with approval authority over the memorial, was scheduled to review the five designs on December 3, 2015.

The changes replaced the existing fountain with a stand-alone wall featuring high-relief sculptures facing east.

[58] The CFA required Sabin to revise his sculpture design 18 times over 18 months before it gave final approval.

The first phase of the project includes rebuilding the existing park, with the addition of a peace fountain, pool basin, multiple berms and plazas and groves of trees.

[60] On November 9, 2017, the World War I Centennial Commission held a ceremonial groundbreaking event at Pershing Park.

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, and others participated in the groundbreaking.