As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, the Trust for the National Mall set out to reimagine how people experience one of the nation’s most iconic landmarks. They envisioned a digital platform that extends access beyond a physical visit, reaching people wherever they are. To bring it to life, they needed to support millions of visitors and meet accessibility standards. They needed a partner who could deliver a secure, high-performing experience at public scale while leaving room to grow.
How Pax8 Helped
Through the combined efforts of Pax8 and the Microsoft Elevate Team, the Trust was introduced to Centered Networks, a partner built to help mission-driven organizations. What began as implementation quickly expanded into full ownership, with Centered Networks leading product strategy, cloud architecture, security and operations.
“When we first started, it was really a collection of ideas around the vision,” says Chris Grecsek, Founder and CTO of Centered Networks. “We had to organize stakeholders to define who we were building for and what we were building.”
Working with more than 35 collaborators, the team created the National Mall Gateway, an immersive experience built around 360° visuals and layered storytelling that deepens engagement whether someone is at the Mall or exploring from anywhere in the world.
From day one, the platform had to handle unpredictable traffic spikes, meet strict accessibility requirements and remain secure while scaling quickly. Built on Microsoft Azure, it delivers a flexible foundation for public scale. “Public scale means there could be millions of people using the platform on short notice,” Grecsek said. “And if we’re seeing a big uptake in usage, then we have the ability to auto scale up, and similarly scale down so they’re not accruing extra expense.”
Pax8 also simplified how the Trust accessed and funded Azure, streamlining procurement and connecting them to nonprofit funding. That support removed friction early, so the team could move faster from vision to a secure, scalable experience live to the public.
