File:Columbarium - Nimitz Shelter and Court 5 marker - Arlington National Cemetery - 2011.JPG

English: Looking northeast at Nimitz Shelter, part of the Columbarium Complex at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States. In the foreground is the marker for Columbarium Court #5, which is behind the photographer. Past the Nimitz Shelter is Court #6.

The 14-acre, rectangular columbarium site is approximately 700 feet from north to south and 800 feet from east to west. The site was previously divided in an east-west direction by Nimitz Drive (now no longer in existence). In 1999, Arlington National Cemetery developed a master plan for the use of its land. The master plan included plans to build Phase Four and Five of the columbarium complex. This plan called for a central ellipse (planted with trees, shrubs and flowers) between Courts #3/#5 and Courts #4/#6, and for an outdoor shelter (identical to the existing Marshall Shelter) to be built on the eastern end of the complex.

Phase Four was approved in 2001. Court #8, which has 7,672 niches, was completed in 2005. Court #7, which was the same size, began construction in 2006 and was finished in 2007. The second shelter is named "Nimitz Shelter," after U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz.

The shelter consists of four concrete pillars supporting a concrete square flat roof. A permanent low wooden rostrum is at the eastern end of the structure. The shelter is bordered by a low stone masonry wall which doubles as a flower planter. The shelter and the small plaza connecting it to the rest of the complex to the west are both paved in rectangles of pink granite bordered by polished tile.