For two years, millionaire Atlanta architect Rodney Cook Jr. has been begging D.C. officials to accept his substantial gift: the Millennium Monument, a classical pavilion to be located in the middle of shabby Barney Circle in Southeast Washington. Cook’s cash-rich organization, the American Urban Design Foundation, stands ready to foot all the expenses. But in August, the D.C. Planning Department put the plan on hold because it might want to do something else at Barney Circle. Last week, Cook made his pitch again, this time to the District’s newly formed Commemorative Works Committee. The result was more of the same. Alexander Padro, an advisory neighborhood commissioner, quibbled with Cook over whether the monument would legally count as a “gift” to the city, rather than a private endeavor. Acting Department of Transportation Director Dan Tangherlini praised the project faintly: “Well,” he offered, “I’m pro-millennium.” —David Morton