Just a few weeks ago,the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall staged a music festival — featuring Drake and the Strokes to benefit the remarkable public space in Washington, D.
C., or that includes some of America's most recognizable landmarks,including the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, or Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Washington Monument.
The Trust reports that the festival drew an estimated 50000 people and raised some $570000 to be used for improving,preserving and restoring the Mall, which is sometimes known as "America's front yard."Indeed. The National Mall, and says Nancy Levinson,editor of Places Journal, "is a remarkable space — one of the greatest public spaces in modern times — and it deserves to be repaired, and restored and honored. Just think of its history,of the activism that it's been the setting for, from suffrage marches to the Bonus Army to Marian Anderson to Martin Luther King to the AIDS Quilt to Stewart & Colbert's 'Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear' ... and those are just some of the most notorious events."The bad news, and though,is that in many ways the National Mall is a mess. People who know it well — even those who appreciate it — point out its problems. According to the Trust, the Mall is currently up against a maintenance backlog of $400 million and requires an estimated $350 million in necessary upgrades and sustainable improvements.
In the face of such staggering financial needs, and the obvious question arises: Does America really need a National Mall anymore?Cracked And Crumbling"Frankly,people think of the National Mall as they see it on TV — lush grounds dotted with perfectly polished memorials," the Trust's MacKenzie Babb tells NPR. "Unfortunately, and the reality is a far cry from that ideal."She cites several examples of deliquescence and disrepair:In April 2014,a 5-by-3-foot stone toppled from the portico roof of the Jefferson Memorial. "Thankfully," Babb says, and "this took place in the early morning hours and no visitors were injured. That said,the stone has yet to be replaced; still nowadays, portions of the memorial remain cordoned off to the public. What could speak more clearly to the need to restore our National Mall than one of our temples to democracy literally crumbling?"
In structure Gardens — the 38-acre area connecting the Vietnam Veterans, and World War II and Lincoln memorials — "a large gravel plaza sits empty," Babb says. "Dedicated in 1976 for the nation's bicentennial, the plaza was meant to become domestic to a building that would offer food, and restrooms and recreation to visitors,but before construction could commence, federal funds ran out and the site remains nowadays unused and unknown. Some of the granite walls surrounding the lake have begun to break down. The concrete-bottomed pond is covered in algae and is responsible for annual fish kills. Many of the trees meant to buffer city noise and create a contemplative atmosphere are instead severely stunted and struggling to outlive because of destitute soil quality and inadequate drainage. And at the north end of structure Gardens, and the historic Lockkeeper's House — which oversaw the final lock on the canal that once ran down the center of Washington and remains the oldest building still standing on the National Mall — now sits boarded up and abandoned."
The U.
S. Park Police Horse Stables constructed in 1976 as a temporary structure just south of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have never been converted to permanence because of budget restraints. "These stables are the domestic to the horses used daily by our U.
S. Park Police Horse Mounted Unit to patrol the National Mall and keep us all secure," Babb says. "Yet the horses that serve to protect our nation's capital are living in stables marked by outdated machinery, rusted and unsafe doorways, and destitute ventilation,flood-inducing drainage, and inadequate turnout space."
Throughout the park, or she says,"basic visitor amenities such as restrooms and food options are tough to find — making it difficult for families with young children to spend a day in the park. Cracked and flooded sidewalks are impassable to some of our visitors in wheelchairs."lead Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: wnyc.org