The idea of reproducing the chamber took hold from there, and it became integral to the institute, which received significant support from Mr. Kennedy’s colleagues in Congress through $38 million in public funding over the years.

Built from the results of a three-dimensional architectural survey of the actual chamber, the institute’s version is not an exact replica. The rostrum occupied by the presiding officer is not raised in order to comply with accessibility standards, there is a prominent video screen and there are no busts of the vice presidents who have presided, to name a few variations.

But from many angles on the floor and from the visitors’ and media galleries, those differences virtually disappear, aided by the matching color scheme and carpeting, the familiar assembly of 100 specially made desks, the characteristic cloakroom and entry doors, the (faux) marbling and the padded staff benches lining the back walls. A designated desk to be filled with candy awaits just as in the actual Senate. The institute has even recorded the hubbub of the Senate voting, with calls for the Senate to be in order, to play for verisimilitude.

“It is an audacious idea,” said Bill R. DeWalt, executive vice president of the institute, about the re-creation. “But it works.”

It may work particularly well on Monday when Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the president of the Senate, presides over the dedication of the chamber with current senators on the floor — paired with college students from around the country.