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Washington Monument Becomes More Tourist-Friendly

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 8, 2006

The National Mall • Tourists Undeterred by D.C. Murder Spree • Famous Flag is Focus of Museum Makeover • Washington Monument Becomes More Tourist-Friendly • New Maps Tell History of National Mall • Senate Studies Mall Clutter • Senate Asked to Expand National Mall --- • More about Travel

The Washington Monument, a forboding stone structure that towers over the National Mall, is suddenly more tourist-friendly.

A three-year project to redesign exterior landscaping has been completed, leaving a curved entrance pathway lined with trees and flowers at the start and pillow-shaped benches at the finish, around the base of the structure.

According to landscape architect Laurie Olin, "The point was to turn the security thing into a beautiful walk. My goal was to simplify everything. But trying to do something simply is harder to do than something messy."

Working with government-imposed guidelines to guard against potential attacks from terrorists using vehicles, Olin created a path that doubles as a concrete-and-granite barrier strong enough and high enough to keep vehicles from the base of the monument. He also added lighting around the base, in addition to the benches.

The result is a sculpted, softer look that one tourist said puts the famous landmark on a pedestal.

Earlier this month, as the cherry trees were blooming around the nearby Tidal Basin, Olin hosted members of the National Building Museum and the American Society of Landscape Architects on a tour of his handiwork.

The curved, sloping path is recessed into the gentle hill that gaves the 555-foot obelisk unobstructed views of other D.C. landmarks, including the Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall, the Reflecting Pond, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Capitol Building, the White House, and the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

Olin's path replaces an asphalt walkway burdened with jersey barricades to ward off possible attacks. The new entrance is far more inviting, not only from an aesthetic point of view but also from a security standpoint.

The Washington Monument, a capital landmark for more than a century, is operated by the National Park Service, which granted Olin's firm the right to design new landscaping.

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