Coming soon to the National Mall: A large glass box.
The National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday approved final site plans for the design of a new Washington Monument visitor screening center.
The National Park Service looked at some 40 design options before picking the final one, which it says will be a permanent structure to improve security and visitor flow at the monument.
That’s a moot point right now, as the monument is closed to visitors until at least 2019 as it undergoes elevator repairs. Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein has pledged to fund the elevator modernization project, which is expected to cost up to $3 million.
When it is open, the monument is toured by more than 600,000 visitors annually, making it one of D.C.’s most popular tourist attractions and a potential terrorist target.
The incoming one-level box (30 feet wide by 27 feet deep and 17 1/2 feet high) will replace the existing security center, which was constructed in 2001 following the Sept.…Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
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