Three sites were short-listed by the commission. The first was on the ground floor of the United States Institute of Peace building at 2301 Constitution Avenue NW. The structure's vast atrium, which looks out on Constitution Avenue, was discussed as early as June 2004. But according to a commission report, a member of the Eisenhower family opposed co-locating the memorial there. The commission also considered Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue NW and a site on Maryland Avenue SW. An Eisenhower family member requested in September 2004 that the commission also consider the Auditors Building at 14th Street SW and Independence Avenue SW. The commission hired M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, a design and architectural firm, to assist it in evaluating these three sites. A report was considered by the commission at its March 2005 meeting. Commissioner David Eisenhower successfully moved that the commission limit its focus to Freedom Plaza and the Maryland Avenue site. The Eisenhower Memorial Commission unanimously chose the unnamed plaza bounded by Maryland Avenue SW, 4th Street SW, and 6th Street SW as its preferred site.
