The Park Service Struggles to ensure security along the Mall without ruining the visitor experience in the process.
In recent months, the monuments along our National Mall have been surrounded by so many fences, walls, gates, and bollards that the grand vista spreading from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial appears to be turning into an obstacle course.
The latest step? Citing security worries, the National Park Service permanently closed the primary parking lot adjacent to the Jefferson Memorial in January, making it nearly impossible for the elderly and those with disabilities to enjoy the cherry blossoms each spring, and complicating the matter for families with small children. (Public transportation options are limited: The nearest subway station is at least ten to 15 minutes by foot, and the only other option is a privately run bus concession that serves the entire city at the rather stiff cost of $20.) Nearby, plans are under way to surround the Lincoln Memorial with walls and bollards to prevent car bombs from entering the periphery. And the grounds around the Washington Monument have been fenced off since last summer, as the Park Service regrades the landscape to create a glorified moat of sorts; walls and fences will surround the monument for months to come.
It's a trend that began with the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Africa, and which intensified soon after September 11. To be fair, the Park Service is not alone: A stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House has been closed since the Oklahoma City bombing, and in recent months several city streets around the Capitol have been shut down. But some believe measures taken by the Park Service are out of proportion with the risk, and others are upset at its failure to involve the public in key decisions.
"Were the National Park Service free to do as it wishes, it's quite possible that memorials on the Mall would be encased in bulletproof, blast-proof, thermoplastic synthetic resin designed to ensure that the public and the nation's landmarks would never meet," read one recent Washington Post editorial. "Having successfully closed the parking lot at the Washington Monument, Park Service officials are now apparently emboldened to place even more of the nation's best known democratic symbols off-limits to local residents and visitors to the nation's capital."
"It's not that anybody's against security, but we've got to sit down and face the facts: There's only so much we can protect against," says Judy Scott Feldman, chair of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall. "How much of our economy are we willing to ruin and how much of the beauty of our city are we going to destroy just to make it look like we're trying to do something?"
Much of the difficulty can be attributed to the unique nature of the Mall - a national park that serves as host to tourist attractions like the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art, federal office buildings like the Department of Agriculture, and political demonstrations on the steps of the Capitol, while also serving as a city park for countless bicyclists, picnickers, and softball players. To complicate matters, a map of the Mall reveals seven agencies that are responsible for two square miles of land, from the Department of Interior to the Architect of the Capitol to the Smithsonian Institution, and even the District of Columbia.
To that end, the National Coalition to Save Our Mall is urging Congress to delineate the boundaries of the Mall and treat it as a single entity rather than several individual pieces. One potential solution to retain the Mall's individual character is to position bollards and checkpoints at its periphery rather than more obtrusive security measures for each building or monument. In the end, Feldman and others hope the Park Service will remember the original intent of the National Mall, and work to involve the public in decisions that affect what is first and foremost a public gathering space.
For more information, visit www.savethemall.org. If you'd like to make your voice heard, urge the Park Service and your members of Congress to work to retain the character of the Mall and its monuments. |
