Washington Monument to reopen

WASHINGTON — Eight years after it was rattled by an earthquake and three years after it was closed for elevator and other repairs, the beleaguered Washington Monument will reopen Sept. 19, the National Park Service said.

Since the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake, the national landmark has been closed on and off for more than five years. As history passed, the Park Service wrestled with problems, with an estimated 2.5 million people missing the chance to enter the structure.

With 600,000 visitors a year, the monument honors George Washington, a Revolutionary War hero and the nation’s first president.

Earthquake damage to the interior and exterior of the 555-foot marble-and-granite structure forced its closure for 2 years as it underwent repairs that cost about $15 million.

The work was funded by the government and a $7.5 million donation from local businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein.

Then, between 2014, when it reopened after the earthquake, and 2016, the monument’s elevator broke down 24 times, often stranding visitors who rode it to the top. The monument was closed again in 2016.

With a $3 million donation from Rubenstein, the Park Service began fixing the elevator and with government funds began work on a new security screening facility. Reopening was scheduled for last spring, but was delayed again because of the presence of possibly contaminated soil on the grounds.

The soil “is below the ... surface and poses no risk to public health,” spokesman Mike Litterst said in a statement at the time. But it potentially affected the screening center’s geothermal heating and cooling system, and had to be addressed.

One of the tallest freestanding masonry structures in the world, the monument is also perhaps the most recognized of American structures.

The monument’s cornerstone was laid July 4, 1848, at a ceremony attended by President James K. Polk and Rep. Abraham Lincoln. Work was halted from 1858 to 1878 because of a lack of funds.

In December 1884, a 3,300-pound marble capstone was placed atop the monument and capped with a pyramid of aluminum.

The following Feb. 21, on a sunny, frigid day, the monument was dedicated. Even then, it was just the latest problem with a site that has had a troubled history. The original site, which was supposed to be on a northsouth line with the White House and an east-west line with the Capitol, had to be moved because it was on unstable ground near the bank of the Potomac River, according to a study by the Army Corps of Engineers.