WASHINGTON — The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial opened to the public Friday, just off the National Mall in Washington, closing out two decades of drama, feuds and funding fights over the tribute to the 34th president.

First approved by Congress in 1999, the memorial cost a total of $145 million, according to the Eisenhower Memorial Commission. Some $15 million of that was raised through private donors, and the rest was appropriated by Congress.

The memorial is intended to honor Eisenhower’s legacy as the supreme Allied commander in Europe during World War II and his eight-year presidency and sits just south of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. It was supposed to open in May, but the ceremony and opening were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The dual centerpieces of the memorial are two limestone and bronze scenes — one of Eisenhower as a top military general and another of him as president. There is also a statue of a young Eisenhower sitting with his knees folded to his chest, looking pensive.

Brenda Pennington and Mary Jennings were at the memorial Friday afternoon, among the first of the public visitors to walk through the new venue.

The sisters, who live locally, had seen media coverage of the memorial and wanted to experience it for themselves.

“I heard his granddaughters talk about it, the whole story about the kid,” said Pennington, referencing the statue of a young Eisenhower. “I’ve lived here for many, many years, so any new memorial and I’m out here.”

Towering above the limestone and bronze scenes stands a massive 450-foot-wide and 60-foot-tall stainless steel tapestry that, according to volunteers and guides, depicts the cliffs of Normandy, France, that American soldiers had to scale during the D-Day invasion.

Visitors on Friday asked National Park Service rangers about what was featured in the tapestry, which is somewhat abstract in daylight, but becomes clearer when lit from below at night. A photograph of the cliffs is included in a brochure, making clear what the tapestry represents.

That design was the result of several revisions, driven in part by opposition from the Eisenhower family and lawmakers who have said they could not endorse the project without the family’s approval.

Park rangers, volunteers and employees with the Trust for the National Mall wore “I Like Ike” face masks, a nod to Eisenhower’s presidential campaign slogan. The timely souvenirs were given out by the commission.