Washington Monument prepares for reopening

Do you know your Washington Monument statistics? At 555 feet, five and one-eighth inches tall, it's the world's tallest stone structure, and the world's tallest obelisk. Unless you're a space-alien, it's doubtful you were around when construction took off in 1848, when granite, marble, and bluestone gneiss all formed this remarkable attraction at the end of the reflecting pool, smack in the middle of Washington, D.C.

National Park Service

You probably were around on August 23, 2011. That's when the Virginia Earthquake rolled through town, shaking the foundations of government (almost as much as a congressional stalemate) and causing no small amount of damage to the monument. Chunks of stone, mortar, and chips rained down through the monument's interior. A block in the building's pyramidion (capstone) tried to shake loose, and National Park Service officials quickly shut down operations around the big obelisk.

National Park Service

A little over a month later a National Park ranger led a team of climbers to do a thorough outside inspection of the monument. Kind of handy, having an expert climber in your agency, huh? Must have had some particularly good views of the seat of national government from up there, but I'm sure their minds were elsewhere. In the end, the Service determined that while the monument wasn't in any danger of collapse, extensive repairs would be needed. Up went a complex scaffold system like some kind of surrealistic ball gown, fit for an actress with limited modesty.

But all that scaffolding is coming down. The Park Service says the monument will reopen after a 32-month closure. The big reopen day is May 12, when the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall will host a re-opening ceremony at 10 a.m.

Ron Cogswell on flickr.com

Public tours of the Monument on the day of the reopening, May 12, will begin at 1:00 p.m. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8:30 a.m. that day at the Washington Monument Lodge, located on 15th Street between Madison and Jefferson Drives. Tickets for tours on May 13 and all future dates will be available on the NPS reservation page, www.recreation.gov, starting on April 16, at 10 a.m.

“We are delighted to be in the homestretch with the repairs to the Washington Monument almost complete, and we look forward to the re-opening on May 12 so we can once again welcome visitors to this iconic monument to our nation’s first President,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are grateful for David Rubenstein’s generous donation that funded half of the $15 million repair bill. David’s support of the national parks and the work of the National Park Service sets a high standard for park philanthropy nationwide and is appreciated by every visitor who will learn something about President Washington or simply enjoy the view from the top.”