Just two days after the Washington Monument reopened to the public after a 32-month, $15 million repair and restoration project following the earthquake in 2011, its elevator broke down Wednesday morning.
The elevator stopped working about 10 a.m. and required about an hour-and-a-half to fix. No one was trapped inside the elevator, but some visitors at the top walked 897 steps to the bottom to get out.
The elevator was refurbished, inspected and certified during the Monument restoration project, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton told News4’s Pat Collins.
"This elevator is in use 13 hours a day, seven days a week," she said. "I love that. Those are tourists coming to Washington. An elevator with that kind of frequent use will get in trouble, and it does get in trouble occasionally."
